The Anime Margin: War of the Runes
by RB3
Summary: The 27 True Runes, once locked away in a Harmonian vault, had escaped. Two of them had possessed Yosho and Azusa of Jurai, forcing them to make war to fulfill their ends. Those who opposed them formed the Runecaptors to oppose them.
1. Intro: The Alpha and the Omega

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Beginning with this chapter, this story will feature characters and themes from Love Hina and Negima from Ken Akamatsu, Cardcaptors from Clamp, Suikoden from Konami, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit from Disney.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.

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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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Introduction: The Alpha and the Omega 

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In the mid 20th century, there lived Eddie Valiant, a private investigator from Los Angeles. Unlike most investigators, Valiant specialized in cases which involved cartoon, or Toon, clients. Unlike our world, cartoon characters were real in his. They worked and lived beside humans, primarily as actors in cartoons for studios in the Los Angeles area. They hailed from a special world known as the Tooniverse, which was connected to Los Angeles and the rest of the human world by a tunnel. Most Toons lived in Toontown, the capital of the Tooniverse.

In 1947, Eddie had hit hard times. Some time earlier, his brother had been killed by an unknown Toon murderer during a routine investigation in Toontown. His brother's death deeply affected him, causing him to become an alcoholic and harbour ill will towards Toons. However, that all changed when he took on a case for one Roger Rabbit. Roger had been framed for the murder of Marvin Acme, the CEO of a cartoon prop corporation, and wanted Eddie's help to clear his name. Despite initial doubts and grievances, Eddie took the case.

Little did Eddie know that following this case would also lead him to the identity of his brother's murderer. Acme's murderer was the same person who had murdered Eddie's brother, Judge Doom, the man who presided over Toontown. During their confrontation, Eddie discovered that Doom was actually a Toon, which made him difficult to beat. Nevertheless, Eddie was able to turn Doom's concoction, "the Dip," against the judge to kill him permanently. He located Acme's will and cleared Roger's name. After the case, Eddie continued his private investigation business, becoming a celebrated hero mourned by the Toons with his passing.

A year after Eddie's death, a new breed of cartoon started to appear in the United States, anime. These unique Toons came from Japan, bringing with them the culture of the Japanese to the West. However, a terrible event also happened later that year, eclipsing even Doom's crimes. It was the incident known as the LA massacre. For reasons unknown, various anime Toons suddenly began pillaging the city. Nobody knew why they did it. Some thought it was mass hysteria, while others blamed unknown actors working behind the scenes. It was so bad that the Toons had to deploy superheroes in order to stop this catastrophe.

The massacre would forever change the fate of one man, a descendant of Marvin Acme, Adam Acme. Upon returning home during the massacre, Acme watched in horror as his family was killed in cold blood by an anime Toon looter. This traumatizing event led him down the path of vengeance. He sought others like him and formed the Omnipotence terrorist group. Their goal was to ensure another LA massacre would never happen. To accomplish this goal, Acme needed money and power, and thus began corrupting anime governments and stealing valuable artefacts.

His ultimate goal was to use his newfound power to become a god and seal off the anime worlds from his home world. However, his methods were so brutal, that anime Toons started to resist as the 108 Stars of Destiny, individuals who had the power to shape the fate of the worlds. Gathered from the greatest heroes of the anime worlds, they opposed Omnipotence as the Valiance organization, led by the resurrected Eddie Valiant. The two sides fought on countless worlds until Valiance finally cornered Acme on Cephiro and defeated him.

After Valiance disbanded, the Stars of Destiny returned home and a year of peace prevailed. On the planet where Valiance was once stationed, a group of archaeologists rummaged through ruins long forgotten. At the head of this group was the mighty magician known as Clow Reed, one of the greatest of the anime worlds. A scholarly man in his early forties, Reed's profession imparted a love of knowledge upon him. He began researching other magical practices as a hobby, which led him to his current archaeological dig. The dark, long-haired man opened a musty, ancient tome and glossed through it with his spectacles.

A second bespectacled, middle-aged man entered Reed's room. He was carrying several dusty books in his hands. "Hello Master Reed, I have more for you."

The man dumped a pile of books on top of a large stack already present on Clow Reed's desk. "Well, better get cracking," said Reed. "These books aren't going to translate themselves."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," remarked Aiden, the second man. "Noriyasu is digging out more books from the Harmonian Royal Library. If you thought this stack was big, you ain't seen nothing yet..."

"Oh brother!" remarked Reed. "I love to read, but even I have limits!" Reed shook his head.

"Yeah, after we dig out the rest of those books, we'll give you some help," assured Aiden. "It's getting late. You should turn in for the night. You're probably very tired from all that translating."

Aiden left Reed's room and moved to another building next door. Inside, a pair of Japanese preteen girls was watching a newscast on a portable television. One of them had a small, yellow, teddy bear-like creature hovering near her shoulder. "The representatives of the Digital Nations and the Tsubasa Alliance have formally signed a treaty ratifying the creation of the Digital Bloc," announced the newscaster.

An orange dinosaur-like creature, a Greymon, made a long-winded speech about the benefits the Digital Bloc will grant its members. Aiden knocked on the door. "Sakura, Madison, it's time for bed."

"Okay dad," said Sakura. After Aiden left, the two shut off the TV set and all of the lights to go to sleep.

Even after its dissolution by Valiance's hand, Omnipotence's mark had remained in the history and politics of the anime worlds. Never before has one group of people threatened the anime worlds as a whole so gravely. Omnipotence was able to prey on the weaknesses of the worlds, fighting the scientific with the supernatural, and vice versa. The anime worlds feared the advent of a second "Omnipotence." To protect themselves, the anime worlds began moving towards the formation of defensive blocs and alliances.

The Digital Bloc was among the first of these new alliances. Being among the first, it served as an example for how other anime worlds could do the same. High technology worlds were often unprepared to deal with the supernatural and vice versa. Thus, the obvious solution was to form alliances which shored up weaknesses. These alliances were often led by nations with high technology or methods of inter-dimensional travel. The members of the Digital Bloc had developed their relations with each other during the Omnipotence War. They were also the group which took stewardship of Valiance's home planet after the war.

The next day, the girls woke up to the bright rays of the morning sun. After breakfast, everyone went to do their jobs for the day. Sakura prepared a tray full of food and brought it out of the kitchen. As Sakura came out, she was greeted by the sight of a once lost city. For such an old city, it was remarkably intact, likely through the use of unknown magic. Some of the white paint was still on the buildings, even after so much time had passed.

Sakura looked over the buildings of the city. At one time, all of them were buried underneath layers of dirt. With the Earthy Card, Clow Reed removed the dirt. In doing so, he had revealed the buildings of Crystal Valley, the capital of the Harmonian civilization. After some digging, the buildings were ready to be used as homes while the archaeologists worked in the field.

Sakura approached the royal palace, which had a distinctly Russian style. At one time, it was Harmonia's seat of government, but now it was vacant. She approached the main dig site, which was within the palace itself. Sakura travelled to the palace roof which was now at ground level due to the rest of the palace being buried. After descending stairs, she entered the second floor hallway.

At one time, this place had been blocked off by dirt, but the archaeologists had removed that dirt through meticulous effort. Eventually, they dug their way to the noble's bedroom above the Royal Library. Even with the magic preserving the palace, that bedroom's floor had suffered damaged over the years. When an archaeologist set foot inside, the floor gave out underneath him. However, he didn't fall very far, and landed on some dirt a few inches underneath.

After removing anything pertinent, the archaeologists started digging in the bed room, all the way down to the Royal Library. They found the books and shelves surprisingly intact, and had moved them elsewhere to continue digging without interference. Once they cleaned out the library, they found a set of stairs down to the basement nearby. At this moment, the archaeologists were digging out these stairs to open the basement.

Noriyasu took a rest from arduous and meticulous digging. "Mr. Seta, how old do think these ruins are?" asked Sakura out of curiosity as she approached.

"Hmm... Our tests showed these ruins to be at least a thousand years old," replied the archaeologist. "Did you need anything else?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot! I made all of you a snack. Here!" said Sakura, who showed Noriyasu a tray with cheese and crackers and a glasses of milk.

Noriyasu took his snack from Sakura. "Thanks!"

Sakura placed the tray on in empty space on a nearby table. "I'll leave the tray here." She went back to the living area and encountered a blonde girl who was slightly younger than her. The cute blonde was dressed in slightly beige set of wizard robes. She carried a leather-bound tome in her left hand and a small wand in the other. "Sara!" said Sakura.

"Hey, long time no see!" said Kero, the cute, teddy bear-like creature floating by Sakura's shoulder.

"Hi Sakura, hi Kero!" replied the girl, Sara McDougal. "How have ya been?"

"Fine," replied Sakura. "How was your training with Negi?"

"Good," replied Sara. "Negi taught me a lot of things. I still have a lot to learn, but I already know a few neat spells! He even gave me a book and a wand so I can practice on my own."

"That's good. I'm proud of you!" said Sakura. "Let's go to the practice area. I want to see what you've learned."

The two girls walked over to a city park a safe distance from the archaeologist camp. Sara chanted a spell in Latin, "Sagitta Magica," the magic arrows spells. Three arrows of lightning burst out and homed onto a target tree. "How was that?" asked Sara.

"Nice," remarked Sakura. "You're a fast learner. You haven't been studying long and you can already shoot three lightning arrows.

"If we ever go on an adventure, remind me to take you along," remarked Kero.

Sara chuckled. "Yeah!"

"Let's go back. I'm sure you want to see your dad," said Sakura

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After seeing his daughter return from successfully completing magical training, Noriyasu was elated. The next day, he was brimming with energy and high morale. It showed in his work, and his team was able to dig out the entire basement in record time. Most of the rooms were storerooms used by the staff of the palace. However, one room was different from the others. It was in an out of the way area and was actually a vault with a large metallic door.

Despite the magic which preserved the palace, the vault exterior had sustained damage. The door had burst open from the inside, as though something had exploded from within the vault. Whatever it was, it had caused dents the size of a human's torso. There were also a few random scorch marks nearby, which charred the walls black. This damage appeared to be a recent phenomenon, created no more than two or three months ago, before the archaeologists came to the site.

When Noriyasu and Aiden entered the vault, they found a medium-sized room. It was lined by stone with strange writing on it. The writing was in a special language used specifically for casting magic during the peak of Harmonian civilization. At the centre of this room was a single altar with 26 grooves. Each groove held a single capsule made of what seemed to be clear plastic. They had writing similar to the walls around their surface. At the side of the altar were holes which opened into small holding cups. One of the archaeologists pressed a nearby button which caused a new capsule fall into the cup.

"Dispensers," the man commented.

On the wall behind the altar was a symbol much like a black, flaming sword striking a golden shield. The black sword was piercing into the golden shield, splitting the shield in half. Both items fragmented from the impact. Although the entire room had a supernatural, tingling sensation about it, this sensation was most concentrated around the symbol on the wall. The archaeologists could feel a great, eons-old power contained within that emblem on the wall.

Aiden fetched Clow Reed to examine this room in greater detail. "The magic in this room is strong. This magic is part of a ward, a barrier meant to keep something inside this vault from getting out. Whatever it was, it has long escaped by now," remarked Reed.

At that moment, a mysterious voice resonated within the vault. "Welcome explorers," said a disembodied voice.

"Who are you?" asked Aiden.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega; the First, and the Last. I am the Rune of Beginnings and of Ends. I alone remain fixed on the wall of this vault, bound to keep my brothers under guard."

Reed turned to the sword and shield emblem, which called itself the Rune of the Beginning. "It's coming from that emblem," observed Reed. "Rune, tell me more."

"I am the first of the True Runes, and I will be the last. In the beginning, there was the Sword and the Shield. The Sword and the Shield fought until the Sword collided with the Shield, shattering fragments onto the world. I, the Rune of the Beginning, was born from that collision, while my brothers were born of those scattered fragments. We are known as the 27 True Runes."

"Your brothers?"

"Yes," replied the Rune of Beginning. "We are the great forces of the cosmos. Many have fought wars to gain the power we possess. To save this world and others, the mortal known as Hikusaak sealed us here, behind these walls. As the centuries passed, the seal weakened and my brothers broke free. They are resting, biding their time, but will soon awaken, and begin a cycle of war and destruction which will ravage your world, just like it did to this one."

The Rune's revelation was terrifying. After dealing with Omnipotence, the anime worlds was tired of war. Yet, the Rune of Beginning's counterparts would start another war, as people squabbled over their power. The archaeologists gossiped about this until Reed decided to speak. "What can we do to prevent this?" asked Reed.

"You must find my brothers and reseal them within these walls," replied the Rune of Beginning. "Beware, for each is immensely powerful. Many are those who would desire their power. Not only must you fight these greedy fools, but also my brothers, who do not wish to be imprisoned again. They will take on hosts to enact their will and elude capture. If you truly desire peace, use the capsules on the altar to reseal my brothers and return them to these walls. Gather your companions and impart my wisdom upon them. When you have done so, return to me."

Having received the wisdom of the Rune of Beginning, Clow Reed left to carry out its requests. When he returned to the camp, he gathered everybody at a meeting to discuss these revelations. "So these Rune-thingies were in the vault?" asked Keitaro.

"That's right. They escaped some time before we came and went into hiding all over the anime worlds," said Reed.

"Where do we begin looking?" asked Meilin. "I doubt all of the Runes will just show up and announce they're going to wreck the world."

"Can we even trust the Rune of Beginning?" asked Shaoran. "How do we know that it doesn't have some agenda of its own?"

"Even if it does, we can't ignore the fact that those things are out there," said Reed. "If we can prevent a second Omnipotence from arising, we should do so before it is too late."

"Okay, I'm in," said Meilin.

Other people chimed in to agree with Meilin. "What about you Sara?" asked Sakura.

"Sure, it seems like an adventure!" remarked Sara.

"It's very dangerous. This is not a game!" said Noriyasu.

"I know, dad. Don't worry," assured Sara. "Negi taught me everything. I can handle it."

"Very well," replied Reed. "I'm going to ask the Rune of Beginning for more information."

Reed returned to the vault, where he asked the Rune of Beginning how to track and capture the other True Runes. "When active, you will be able to detect my brothers from the unique signature they emanate. Beware, for my brothers will do their utmost to resist capture. When you weaken them sufficiently, have someone with magical powers concentrate on the capsule and it will do the rest."

"Can you tell me anything more about the other Runes?" asked Reed.

"In this palace is a library filled with books on all varieties of subjects. You will find all the information you need on these pages."

Clow Reed returned to the camp and informed his team about what he had learned. "So you're saying that the information is in those books we found?" asked Noriyasu.

"Yes," replied Reed. "We'll have to rush out a translation as soon as possible."

"Let's go," said Aiden. "We can't afford to waste time."

The three men went to the storage building and rummaged through the books collected from the Harmonian Royal Library. They dusted off dozens and dozens of books and read the titles. Aiden sorted through several books, finding pieces on cooking, science, astronomy, and other useful, but non-pertinent subjects. Reed searched through several historical texts, but found nothing pertinent. It was Noriyasu who found the first book with any useful information.

This book's subject matter was supernatural phenomenon, in particular the magical practices of ancient Harmonia. Back then, people used magic through slivers of the True Runes. Special men and woman called "Runemasters" would graft these slivers into the human body on the forehead or the back of the hands. Once there, the recipient could use the magic whenever they wished. Although interesting, this wasn't what Noriyasu was looking for.

Nevertheless, he knew he was on the right track. He continued flipping pages and soon found exactly what he wanted a few pages in; descriptions of the runes used. The Runes were all unique in their own way. There were elemental Runes for Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, and Lightning. Others represented heavenly bodies, like the Sun and Moon Runes. Still others represented more abstract ideas such as the Pendulum, or Time Rune, and the Gate, or Space Rune.

Surprisingly, there were Runes which represented the four types of special powers used in the anime and Toon worlds. The first was science, the use of fundamental, natural laws to develop devices for assistance. Psionics derived from the mind, using its power to affect other minds and the world. Ki is rooted in Eastern mysticism and taps into the body and its energy, developing them through things like martial arts. Finally, magic taps into supernatural and extra-dimensional forces to produce useful effects.

There was even another which represented contradictions, which included Paradox itself. Paradox was a phenomenon which accompanied the use of special powers. Through normal use of a world's innate powers, no one had to worry about it. However, once someone strayed and tried to use non-innate foreign powers, especially of a different power type, the contrary metaphysics behind them caused a backlash which punished the user. Although a burden, it was necessary since it kept the metaphysics in different worlds consistent and regulated.

"Master Reed, I've found something here," said Noriyasu.

"Nice," replied Reed. "There are pictures and descriptions of the Runes too. This has everything we need."

"I'll rush out a translation," said Noriyasu, who left to begin work.

Noriyasu worked on the translation for the rest of the night. Everyone went to sleep for the night. The next day, Sakura and Madison were awakened by the sound of an explosion. "Whoa, what was that?" asked Sakura's orangey teddy bear familiar, Kero.

They tossed on some shoes and went out to check. They found Sara outside, still in her pyjamas. She raised a magical barrier to ward off a blast of lightning. In retaliation, she fired off several lightning arrows. Sara noticed Sakura leaving the home. "Sakura, the Magic Rune is attacking the camp! Tory went to get a capsule to catch it. Help me fight it off!"

Sara blocked a second blast of lightning. It came from a book, likely one of the ones which the adults were translating. On this book was the emblem of another book in violet light. Sakura hurled a gust of wind at the book, which pushed it away from them. Madison lobbed a dark blob at it, knocking it away further. Rather than continue, the book fled elsewhere. "Are you okay?" asked Sakura.

"I'm fine," replied Sara. "We have to stop that thing before it does anymore damage!"

"After it!" cried Kero.

The three girls pursued the Rune down the vacant streets of the capital. Woken up by the commotion, Shaoran, a Chinese boy, came down to investigate. "Shaoran, go back in!" cried Sakura.

Shaoran reacted just in time to take cover from the Rune's fireball. After fleeing to a park, the Rune continue some ways before a wall of sand arose, blocking its path. The Rune turned around, seeing the three girls and now Shaoran chasing it. The Rune hurled fireballs which Shaoran blocked with a wall of sand. The Rune arced lightning from its body, forcing Sakura, Madison, and Sara to take cover behind magic barriers.

A Japanese teenager descended into the scene, holding aloft one of the capsules from the Rune vault. The capsule worked its magic, dragging the Rune from its place on the book like a vacuum cleaner. The Rune, seemingly in a hopeless situation, suddenly vanished into thin air! The boy, Tory, descended to check on Sakura's group.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Tory.

"Yeah, we're alright," replied Shaoran.

"Well, at least that's over with," remarked Sara.

"Yeah, let's visit Master Reed. He'll want to know what happened," said Tory.

Tory and the girls reported this incident to Reed. "So, it has come to this already. Not only has the Tome Rune showed up right in our camp and fled, but two more Runes have appeared in other worlds," began Reed.

"So, it looks like it's up to us to go get them," observed Tory.

"Yeah, we'll need to do so before they regain too much of their full strength," said Reed. "Also, I have a feeling that we'll need more allies to tackle this problem. If you can, try to recruit people to help us against the Rune."

Clow Reed proceeded to divide up his students and companions into groups. Sakura and Madison were to go to Digital Highworld of the Digital Nations and capture the Rune there. Like the other Digital Worlds, the Highworld was home to the Digimon race, magical creatures formed from the dreams of humans and computer data. Since the people from the Digital Nations were allied with the Cardcaptors against Omnipotence, they would be very receptive.

Shaoran and Meilin would go to technological world of Cyberia, where they filmed the anime "Ghost in the Shell." In this world, everything was connected through the computer networks. People made extensive use of cybernetics, including artificial limbs and bodies. This world was somewhat backwater, with nothing of much value to the other anime worlds at large.

Lastly, Tory, Sara, and Rita were to remain in the camp on standby. Should another Rune appear, especially the Tome Rune, they would go after it. "You all know what needs to be done. Go to the vault and grab some capsules," said Reed. "Let's get this job done quickly. Move out!"

** END OF CHAPTER **

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** SPOTLIGHT: Tarota (Cardcaptors) **

Politics/Demographics:  
Tarota is a world with several magical traditions. In the past, they practiced in secret to avoid persecution. In recent years, they have become accepted and more people are joining them, giving them new blood. Tarota is actually a part of a larger alliance of worlds known as the Tsubasa Alliance. Currently, they have allied with the Digital Nations to form the Digital Bloc.

Characters/VIPs:  
Those who are out to reseal the True Runes are from Clow Reed's magical tradition. They include Sakura, Madison, Shaoran, Meilin, Rita, and Clow Reed himself. Clow Reed is a particularly famous magician and even had a part of Tokyo named after him, Reedington.

Powers:  
Though scientifically equivalent to our world, Tarota also has magic, which is practiced based on different systems or traditions. Clow Reed is the founder of his own tradition, the "Cardcaptors," which uses magic through cards named after him. Each card represents a concept or natural force, such as fire. Individual Cardcaptors eventually develop affinities for certain cards, becoming especially proficient with them. In addition to the Clow Cards, Cardcaptors also have secondary supernatural abilities like precognition.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: The Rune of Beginnings **  
Domain: Harmonian world, 27 True Runes, Beginnings, Endings  
Duality: Beginnings vs. endings  
Appearance: A fiery black sword, breaking apart as it splits a golden shield in half  
Powers: Created Harmonia world, ensures Harmonia's existence, destroys Harmonia

Description:  
This Rune represents both beginnings and endings. Endings often are the beginning of something else and vice versa. As the first Rune, it spawned the other 26 and thus created the no-man's-land, or Harmonian world. It guards the Harmonian vault, where the 27 True Runes were once sealed by Hikusaak. It has the power to destroy the other 26 Runes and itself, thus annihilating the Harmonian universe.


	2. Old Friends 1: Entrance & Exit

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Starting this chapter, this fic will feature Digimon from Toei.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.

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**The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 **

**Old Friends, part 1: Entrance and Exit **

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In an unknown land far from Harmonia, a circular doorway of shimmering white light opened. From this portal between dimensions emerged Sakura and Madison, out to find the True Rune. From their location, they appeared to some distance from the foot of a gigantic mountain. It towered above the land and seemed to be the only object of note for miles around. There were forests in the distance filled with flora and fauna that were unfamiliar to the world of Tarota or Harmonia.

Sakura watched as a small orange dinosaur climbed up a tree to pick some fruit for its next meal. Upon reaching the branch, the dinosaur cut the stem. His lunch dropped to the ground and rolled away from the tree. The dinosaur promptly jumped down and chased it with arms outstretched until he caught it. The dinosaur wolfed down his meal contentedly. "An Agumon..." remarked Sakura.

"Now that we know we're in the Digital World, let's start looking for that Rune," suggested Kero. "Let's ask that Agumon for directions."

Meanwhile, in the Real World, one of the Digital Nations' defenders was working at a convenience store in Tokyo. The bespectacled, violet-haired girl loaded small cakes wrapped in plastic onto the shelves of her family's convenience store. A few customers walked in and purchased some candy from the shelves by the cashier. Below her, a small eagle Digimon worked the lower shelves for her. When she was done stocking, she returned to the back and repeated the same job with some crates of water.

A beeping came from a handheld device in her pocket. She putted out the object, a handheld planner known as a D-Terminal, and checked her mail. "Yolei, we need your help, please come to Tamachi Station, signed Davis," read the girl.

"Is there a problem?" asked the little eagle Digimon.

"Yeah Hawkmon, something's up, we need to go check out Tamachi Station," said Yolei.

After telling her mother about her emergency, Yolei rushed to the train station. She found her friends, the Digidestined, already fighting a group of strange creatures she had never seen before. All of them seemed to be made of inky darkness. Each had a bony, skull-like mask on their faces from which a pair of burning red eyes shined through. One creature was like a sphinx, with a jungle cat's hind legs and a human torso, head, and arms. The second was more humanoid, but had a head much like that of a tyrannosaurus. The last was a jellyfish with a vaguely humanoid face on what would be considered its front side.

The sphinx swatted a car directly into the side of an apartment complex, causing a loud crashing sound echoing down the street. Surprising by the sound, several people started looking at the source. They pointed at the car, lodged within the side of the apartment several metres off the ground. For some reason, they couldn't see the creature that had hurled that car into the apartment in the first place. The sphinx advanced on the people, who were totally unaware of its presence.

Yolei landed Halsemon, her transformed partner Hawkmon, on the ground. "Ken, what's going on?" she asked.

"We've got trouble," replied a sombre, violet-haired boy. "These things are wrecking the city!"

The jellyfish lashed out with an inky tendril and ripped a phone booth right out of the ground. It proceeded to hurl it into a supermarket, crushing some nearby but unfortunate patrons. "For some reason, we're the only ones who can see these monsters," said Pegasusmon, the golden Pegasus.

Pegasusmon fired a Star Shower onto the jellyfish. Star-shaped bolts of positive energy rained onto the jellyfish, searing its inky body. His partner, a blond boy named TK, fired holy energy into the creature. The jellyfish sparkled with golden light as searing pain ripped through its unholy being. Halsemon got into position and spun in a circle. He spun so rapidly that he generated a powerful, sideways tornado. It staggered the creature and lifted loose objects to send them into its back. Pegasusmon unleashed another Star Shower which riddled the jellyfish with holy power, vaporizing the creature once and for all.

Ken and his insect man partner, Stingmon, continued their battle with the sphinx. Ken focused his powers onto the creature, opening a swirling vortex of inky darkness on the ground. As the sphinx advanced on the preoccupied crowd, vines made from the dark material arose from the vortex. They latched onto the creature's body restraining it. Flamedramon, a biped dragon Digimon, hurled fireballs directly into the creature's face. As the sphinx stumbled backwards, it moved right into the path of Stingmon, allowing the insect man to pierce through from behind with arm-mounted blades of violet energy. The creature crumbled into nothingness.

The rest of the Digidestined blew off the head of the tyrannosaurus man. After it collapsed, the creature disintegrated, eliminating the last threat to the city. "Whew, that was close," said Davis, a tanned boy with goggles, as he regrouped with his team. "Why didn't they run? Couldn't they see they were in great danger?"

"Like I told you, I don't think they can see them at all," said TK. "It seems we and the Digimon were the only ones who could see it."

"Could this thing have come from the Dark World?" asked Kari, the girl in pink.

"I don't think so. I've never seen anything like this in the Dark World," replied Ken.

"The Digimon Analyzer couldn't give me any information. I wonder what it could be?" asked Yolei.

Davis' D-Terminal beeped, signalling that he had new E-mail. He pulled it out and checked it. "Cool, mail from Gennai," he remarked. "Looks like we've got more trouble in the Digital World. Hey, they're sending DATS over to help us."

"If they have to send them there, that must mean it's really bad there," remarked Cody, the youngest of the group.

Suddenly, Yolei's D-Terminal beeped. She pulled it out and read a message. Apparently, some of her old friends were in trouble in the Digital World. "I'll catch up with you guys later. I have to take care of some old friends in the Digital World," informed Yolei.

"Friends? Who?" asked Gatomon.

"Sakura Avalon and Madison Taylor," said Yolei. "They worked with me when I was with Valiance. If they're here, they might know what's going on."

"Maybe you shouldn't go alone," said Cody.

"Yeah, at least let me come with you," offered Ken.

"Sure," agreed Yolei. "The rest of you, meet the DATS guys."

* * *

Back in the Digital World, Sakura and Madison walked through the forest in search of some semblance of civilization. They travelled for hours without finding anything that even remotely resembled a town or a village. All they could see were trees and bushes. As they went underneath the canopy of a large tree, a melon rind fell on Sakura's head. Sakura pulled the sticky piece of garbage out of her hair. "Hey! Who dropped this?" demanded Sakura.

An Apemon responded from within the leaves of the tree. "Oh sorry, didn't see you down there!"

"Do you know where the nearest village is?" asked Madison.

"Sure, there's a Yokomon village just west of here," replied Apemon.

"Okay thanks!" said Madison.

Madison led Sakura to the west as the Apemon's directions suggested. They exited the forest and came across a vast plain an hour later. Eventually, they could make out a group of small huts on the plains. The village was at the base of the mountain they had seen when they first entered the Digital World. It was populated by small pink, bulb-like creatures known as Yokomon. These small Digimon were only as tall as the girls' ankles and were very low level Digimon in comparison to the others they had encountered.

"Hello everybody, welcome to Yokomon Village," said one of the Yokomon as she met the Clow magicians.

"Nice to meet you too," said Madison.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know where we can find any of the Digidestined?" asked Sakura. "It's very important that we meet them."

"We have an Internet cafe in one of our huts. If you know their E-mail address you can send them an E-mail," suggested the Yokomon.

"Sure, I'll do that," said Sakura.

The Yokomon's Internet cafe was small in comparison to a girl of Sakura's size, but noticeably larger than the rest of the huts. It was large enough to house about two dozen Yokomon at a time. The doorway was too small to walk into, so Sakura crawled in instead, but ran into another problem. The keyboards were too small for her fingers to type on. The computers were designed to be used by the Yokomon rather than a human being like herself.

"Uh, they're too small for me to use," remarked Sakura.

Before she could think up a solution, she sensed a great magical disturbance radiating through the air. It was a like the air itself was being forcibly parted open. "Sakura, look!" cried Madison from the outside.

In the sky, a new gateway between the worlds had formed. Something bizarre and alien had emerged from this gateway; a cube of inky black darkness. It gazed upon the land with its single green Cyclopean eye. The Clow magicians and the Yokomon stared at the strange cube apprehensively, wondering what it was and what would do. It was then that the cube fired a beam of crimson, searing heat from its eye. The beam started a blazing fire on a Yokomon's home.

The Yokomon started panicking. Sakura turned to Madison. "We have to stop that thing!" she cried, watching as the cube fired another of those crimson beams. The beam vaporized a hapless Yokomon instantly.

Sakura summoned the Windy Card, a gentle and graceful spirit of air. The golden spirit circled the cube, trapping it within a funnel of whirling, magical wind. The cube immediately emitted a burst of powerful dark magic, driving the Windy spirit away. Madison invoked the Voice Card, using it to amplify a scream. Her voice unleashed a massive shockwave which nearly bowled over the cube. However, the monster recovered its balance and fired a retaliatory heat ray upon her.

Sakura raised a magical barrier with the Shield Card. The cube continued to pound the Shield, trying to wear out Sakura. "This isn't good," remarked Sakura. "That thing is strong!"

"I'll take over the Shield," said Madison. "Try to take out that thing!"

While Madison maintained the Shield, Sakura summoned the Light Card, calling a beam of pure light from the heavens. The beam descended on the cube and seared its body. The cube was in agony. Its inky black flesh hissed as the light seared it. The creature shut out the pain and fired its heat beam rapidly at the magicians. Although not explosively powerful, the creature seemed to have a near limitless reserve of stamina and energy.

Madison could feel herself weakening under the constant pressure. "I don't know how long I can hold this, Sakura! That thing isn't getting tired!"

Sakura called on the Light Card again with much greater power, bombarding the monster with divine radiance. "The Light Card isn't working. The creature's shutting out the pain!"

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the cube from behind. The girls traced the source to Halsemon, who had hit the creature's exposed back. "Yolei!" cried Madison.

"Sorry I'm late guys," said Yolei.

Sakura spotted Ken and Stingmon as they launched their attack against the cube monster. Stingmon sprayed a mist of acidic poison upon the cube. The green mist hissed as it corroded the cube's flesh. To support Stingmon, Ken invoked dark powers upon the cube. An aura of unearthly violet light surrounded the cube. The foul dark energy began to sap the monster's strength, rapidly depleting it. Stingmon reared back and hurled himself at the cube with his blades extended forward. He tore right through the cube, leaving a gaping hole in his wake.

As the cube disintegrated into nothingness, Ken regrouped with the others. Stingmon reverted into a small caterpillar-like creature known as Wormmon. "Hello, so you're Sakura and Madison, right? I'm Ken Ichijoji, nice to meet you," introduced Ken.

"Nice to meet you too," said Sakura.

"So Sakura, what'cha doing here?" asked Yolei.

"We're here to find something called a True Rune," replied Sakura.

"Uhuh..." remarked Yolei.

"I think you'd better start from the beginning," suggested Hawkmon.

"Oh that's right, you don't know what happened," realized Sakura.

Sakura narrated the story about how a group of archaeologists began a dig on the planet once used by Valiance as a base. During the Omnipotence War, Clow Reed had discovered the ruins of a lost civilization there. With the war going on, his duties at Valiance didn't afford him the luxury of exploring. Now that the war was over, he accumulated money and friends to begin a dig there. From their dig, they learned much about this lost civilization.

The lost civilization was known as Harmonia, which also became the de facto name of its planet. Harmonia was the dominant civilization of its time. On Harmonia the planet, there existed 27 Runes, emblems which represented the various powers and forces which governed the world. These magical entities gave its bearer immortality and tremendous power. From Harmonia planet's history, many wars were fought over these Runes to gain access to their power.

However, the Runes' power did not come without a price. The Runes had wills of their own, which often superseded that of its bearer, making a mere puppet out of him or her. In addition, certain Runes brought other curses with them which were related to their natures. It was these 27 Runes that ultimately annihilated Harmonia planet's population. However, to ensure they would not bring the same fate elsewhere, one man sacrificed his life to seal them away. That man was Hikusaak, the ruler of Harmonia, also the bearer of the Circle Rune.

With his last breath, Hikusaak sealed the rampaging Runes in a vault underneath his palace in Harmonia. The archaeology team came upon this vault, finding that the Runes had somehow broken out. The Runes went into hiding among the anime worlds with the exception of one, the Rune of Beginnings. Bound to the Rune Vault, it became the guardian of the other 26 and wanted its siblings resealed along with it. It was now assisting Sakura and friends in resealing the others.

"So one of these Rune things is causing all of these monsters to show up?" asked Ken.

"Yep," said Madison. She consulted a small leaflet she had received before setting out to find the Runes. "It must be the Gate Rune, judging by its powers and behaviour."

As Yolei and Ken read the leaflet, Kero narrated the information on it. "This Rune controls space and doorways. It can open pathways from one world to another," said Kero. "It must have brought in that monster we had fought earlier."

"What was that thing?" asked Wormmon. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I think it was a Mazoku," said Sakura. "They're from the Red World, if I remember correctly. They're kind of like a demon and have great magical power."

"If we can capture that Rune, it should stop all of these monsters from showing up," said Madison.

Sakura pulled out a spherical capsule. "I got this from the Rune Vault. It can trap the Rune so we can take it back to the vault. What we need to do is find that Rune and catch it in this capsule."

"Yeah, easier said than done," remarked Kero.

"Okay, I'm going to message the others. I want to see if they have found anything new," remarked Ken as he penned in his message in an electronic device.

Within moments, his response came from Kari. "Thanks Ken, we'll keep a look out for anything that looks like this Rune. We also bumped into the DATS guys. We're going to coordinate our efforts."

"Well, the others haven't found anything yet, but they're still looking," said Ken.

"So, what should we do in the meantime?" asked Yolei.

"How about we check out Mihirashi Mountain?" suggested Hawkmon. "It can't hurt to have a look."

"Well, I guess we could do that. Meramon might have seen something," suggested Ken.

The group of Digidestined and Cardcaptors made their way up the mountain. This mountain's melted ice caps were the source of the Yokomon village's water. Meramon would melt the water with his heat and the water would trickle underground for the Yokomon to collect. The group traversed the rough dirt roads up to Meramon's cavern. It was an arduous and long trip, but they eventually found the Digimon. He was a flaming man with eyes of blue and a mouth sewn together by threads. Strangely, they didn't burn from the flames surrounding his body.

Meramon looked up from a bowl of meat and fruit he was about to eat. "Oh, the Digidestined," he remarked. "What brings you here?"

"We were wondering if you had seen anything strange in the area around Mihirashi Mountain?" asked Yolei.

"Oh no, everything's fine. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened here," reported Meramon.

Ken informed Meramon about the Mazoku attack. "That's why we came here. We were wondering if anything like that has happened here."

"Sorry, can't say I've seen anything strange," replied Meramon. "I think I'd better visit the Yokomon now that I've heard about the attack."

"Well okay, thanks for you time," said Yolei.

Since their trip produced no results, they climbed back down with Meramon in tow. When they reached the bottom, Meramon split off to talk to the Yokomon. Ken's D-Terminal bleeped. He had a message, which he read out loud. "We found a strange disk in the sky above east Monitor Beach. Please come check it out, signed Mimi."

"Since we're not doing anything here, let's check it out," suggested Hawkmon.

When the group returned to the Yokomon Village, the group crawled into the Internet cafe and Yolei used her Digivice on one of the monitors. The group immediately found themselves back in Ken's room in the Real World. Yolei opened another portal on Ken's monitor, this one leading to Mimi's location in the western regions of the Digital World. They found themselves in the middle of a beautiful sandy beach. The strong scent of brine filled the air.

When they looked in the sky, the Madison pointed to the disk hovering overhead. Unlike most portals, this one remained open constantly. It didn't close like the others after dropping off a new monster into the Digital World. It was also much larger than the others they had encountered. As the group approached the area directly underneath the disk, they noticed Mimi standing below, pointing upwards at it. With her was one of the DATS members, Yoshino, who made an inaudible comment about the Gate Rune.

When the group approached the duo, Mimi waved at them. "Oh hi, you came just in time!"

Yoshino noticed the two girls with Yolei and Ken. "So you two must be Sakura and Madison?"

"Yep, I'm Sakura Avalon and she's Madison Taylor," introduced Sakura. "My little friend here is Kero."

"I'm Yoshino Fujieda, nice to meet you," introduced Yoshino. "My friends are Lalamon, Mimi, and Palmon."

"Hi!" said Palmon.

"Sakura, now that we're here, let's seal the Rune," urged Kero.

"Okay!" said Sakura.

The young Clow mistress produced a capsule and pointed it as the Gate Rune. All of a sudden, the Rune moved away! "After it Sakura!" cried Kero.

Sakura invoked the Fly Card to grow wings and flew off to give pursuit. Following behind were the others. Yolei rode on the back of Aquilamon while Stingmon carried Ken, and Sunflowermon carried Yoshino. Madison also used the Fly Card to grow wings and follow. Mimi and Palmon remained behind to send a message the others. "Where's that thing leading us?" Sakura wondered.

"Somehow, I don't think it's going home," replied Kero.

After chasing the Gate Rune for several minutes, the Rune suddenly turned its bottom side to its pursuers. A swarm of demonic wasps exited the Rune, buzzing and flapping their wings relentlessly. The group scattered to elude the angry insects. "Not these guys again..." remarked Sakura.

Indeed, Sakura remembered how these creatures had attacked her during the beginning stages of the Omnipotence War. Later on, she would learn that these creatures were known as the Saimyosho, demonic wasps from the netherworld of Demonic Earth. "Kero, you remember these guys?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, it was right before we formed Valiance. They wanted the Clow Cards," replied Kero.

"So you do remember," remarked Sakura. "I haven't forgotten. Let's get some payback!"

Sakura summoned the Windy Card, which unleashed the airy female spirit. The spirit burst through the swarm, crushing them by the hundreds through the sheer wind pressure left in its wake. Madison supported her with the Voice Card, amplifying her own voice into a devastating sonic blast. The waves crushed the insects like the vermin they were. Sunflowermon unleashed a Sunshine Beam, which seared a large swath right through the unholy insects. With the bugs dead, the group continued its pursuit of the Gate Rune.

The group soared over the deep blue waters of the Digital World's oceans. Suddenly, the Gate Rune revealed its underside to the group again. A blast of flame burst out of the disk, like a solar prominence. Sakura and Madison scattered immediately. The heat was so intense that they could feel it as the fires streamed past. Stingmon and Sunflower spotted the flames approaching and banked away. However, Aquilamon was caught off guard and some of his feathers caught on fire. His burns caused him to fall behind and lose altitude.

"Yolei!" cried Ken and Yoshino.

"Don't worry about us! We'll catch up!" cried Yolei.

"This is the worst," remarked Yoshino as Aquilamon landed on the water.

Ken contacted the others for help. Just before they came out of view, Ken spotted someone approaching to help Yolei. "Joe and Ikkakumon are taking care of Yolei. Let's concentrate on the Rune," said Ken.

"Good," said Yoshino. "We need to stop that thing."

The group closed the gap created by the Rune's distractions and Yolei's emergency landing. When they were in range, Sakura sicced the Windy Card on the Rune. The disc gained altitude to evade the spirit's approach. Stingmon spit sticky threads like that of a spider. The Rune shifted perfectly to the right to evade, defying all laws of inertia and motion. The group adjusted their direction to put themselves back on the trail of the Rune.

The disc suddenly revealed its underside to the group. Madison spotted the tip of something emerging from the Gate Rune. "Watch out, something's coming out!"

The group veered away as the object sailed past them. However, this thing was not another monster. As they looked back at it, it appeared to be some kind of rock. "It threw an asteroid at us?" asked Madison.

"Why doesn't it throw the kitchen sink at us while it's at it?" asked Kero sarcastically.

Tired of the chase, Ken decided to use his Crest magic to try to slow down the Rune. As he focused the dark magic on the Gate Rune, wisps of jet black miasma billowed out of it. The Rune lost speed noticeably, allowing the group to re-enter firing range. However, the Rune realized what was going on. Ken could feel the Rune fighting back, resisting the effects of his magic. It was redirecting his power into its top side, funnelling the dark energy into a void.

Stingmon sprayed threads of sticky silk. Although the Rune shifted sideways and up to escape, Stingmon successfully tethered one of the threads to the Rune's outer rim. "Nice shot, Stingmon!" said Sakura.

Stingmon pulled back as though to reel the Rune in. Despite his best efforts, the Rune continued to move forward, dragging Stingmon along with it. The others followed the insect man as the Rune towed him along. Sunflowermon fired solar energy at the Gate Rune while Madison conjured shadows with the Shadow Card. The black silhouettes clung to the Rune, slowing its movement further. Even then, the Rune just wouldn't stop, despite a significant drop in its speed.

"Sakura, now! Use the capsule!" urged Kero.

Sakura pulled out the capsule and channelled magical power to activate it. The capsule sucked the Rune right into it, trapping this force of nature within its confines. Sakura gazed at her trophy within the capsule. The Gate Rune looked so tiny compared to its natural form. It was just a small glowing disk of white light now, but she could feel its vast power pulsing through the capsule.

"We did it!" cheered Sakura.

"Alright," said Madison.

"Two down, 25 more to go," remarked Kero.

"There are 25 more of those things? How are you going to take'em on all by yourselves?" asked Stingmon.

"You could use some help," said Yoshino.

"If anyone could come along to help, we'd really appreciate it," said Madison.

"I'll have to check up with my commander, but if he okays it, I'll come with you," said Yoshino.

"I'd like to join, but I need to stay with my friends and help take care of the left over monsters," said Ken.

Yoshino contacted her commander and came back with his reply. "He gave me the green light. Looks like I'll be joining you after all."

"Thanks you two. I couldn't have done it without you," said Sakura.

"Yeah, you're welcome," said Ken.

* * *

The Cardcaptors returned to Crystal Valley with the Rune in their possession and some new allies, Yoshino Fujieda and Lalamon. The DATS agent looked over the lost city of Crystal Valley in awe. "So this is the lost civilization you were talking about?" asked Yoshino.

"Yeah, pretty neat huh?" asked Kero. "This place was totally buried under dirt when we first found it, but we dug the whole thing out. Isn't that amazing?"

"The buildings still look pretty new," remarked Lalamon. "It's like everyone got up and left town."

"Yeah, we found that strange too," admitted Madison. "We thought it would be worse shape that what we found it in."

The group travelled to the Rune vault and met Sakura's father in the area. "Hi dad!" said Sakura. "We just caught a Rune."

"Wonderful, put it on the altar right away," said Aiden.

Upon placing the Gate Rune, the Rune of Beginnings addressed her. "Well done, young girl, the Gate Rune is safely upon the altar once again. Be warned that as time goes by the Runes will regain more of their original strength. There is a method which can help you combat the Runes, using those you have already captured."

"What is this method?" asked Sakura.

"It is the same method used by people in the past known as 'Runemasters.' They cut off splinters of the Runes to endow their power upon their clients. I can act as one of these Runemasters for your group, but my runes will work differently from those of the past."

"Wait a minute, won't we get problems with Paradox?" objected Kero.

"We, the 27 True Runes, are beyond the laws which govern your powers. You need not fear the possibility of backlash when using our powers. This is yet another reason why our powers are so coveted," replied the Rune of Beginnings. "I can cut splinters from the other 26 Runes. Using these splinters, you can use the power of the Runes you have captured. Each splinter is good for one use before its power is consumed."

"Thank you, Rune of Beginnings," said Madison.

"One more thing," continued the Rune. "In order to hold the splinter, you will need new capsules. There are dispensers at the side of the altar."

Sakura pressed a button on the altar's side. A capsule rolled down a slide, which Sakura fetched after it landed in a holding cup. "Can I get a copy of the Gate Rune?"

"Indeed, hold out the capsule," said the Rune of Beginnings.

After doing as it asked, the Rune of Beginnings cut a piece out of the Gate Rune. Unlike the original, the splinter was more circular in appearance than ovular. The splinter entered Sakura's capsule. She could feel the vibrations of power in her hand. "I want one too," said Madison.

"Of course," replied the Rune.

**END OF CHAPTER**

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SPOTLIGHT: Digital Nations (Digimon)

Politics/Demographics:  
One of the true superpowers of the anime worlds, it is not a single world, but rather, an amalgam of many world pairs, each with their own names. These pairs consist of a Real World and a Digital World. Real Worlds are where humans live, including the human partners of Digimon, and are much like our own. The Digital Worlds are fantastic worlds where the Digimon, or Digital Monsters, live. The Digital Nations lead the Digital Bloc, which the Tsubasa Alliance is a member.

Characters/VIPs:  
Yoshino Fujieda is the newest member of the Rune hunters. She hails from Digital Asgard. She is a member of DATS and part of a four member core group which deals with unwanted Digimon incursions into her Real World.

Powers:  
The Real Worlds have a technology level similar to that of the Human World. They have nuclear fission power, electronic communications, and the capability to launch crude space-faring vessels. They are primarily science-based.

On the other hand, the Digital Worlds are primarily magic-based, including its technology. Digimon are magical creatures, born with special abilities and the ability to undergo Digivolution, a metamorphosis into a newer and stronger form. Human partners give Digimon help to do this by sharing power with the Digimon. Recently, this process has started to work the other way, with humans gaining special abilities from contact with Digimon.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: The Gate Rune **  
Domain: Space, doorways, passage  
Duality: Entrance vs. Exit  
Appearance: Ovular white doorway/portal  
Powers: Manipulate space, opens gateways/portals to other dimensions and worlds

Description:  
The Gate Rune rules over space and represents passage. The Gate Rune contrasts the nature of a doorway, that of being both an entrance for things to come in, but also an exit for things to leave. It is the proverbial doorway which links the Harmonian world to others. It can manipulate space, primarily to open inter-dimensional portals and pathways.


	3. Horror Story 1: 7 Sins

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. This story will feature Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.

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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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Horror Story, part 1: 7 Sins 

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Shaoran and Meilin appeared in a secluded area of a park somewhere within an unknown city. The city was like any other with grungy poorer areas to cleaner, higher class districts. Office buildings towered high above in the downtown area, a monument to the economic power of this nameless city. The signs on the shops were written in Japanese, indicating that the city was in Japan somewhere. The two Cardcaptors passed through a poorer district, trying to sense any supernatural disturbances that would indicate a Rune's activity.

The streets had litter scattered at random locations. The buildings looked far more worn and run down than the rest of the town. Some hobos gathered by a fire in a barrel to warm themselves in the cold. The Cardcaptors found discarded newspapers which they flipped through. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. All they saw were media reports on wars, natural disasters, and local crime.

However, that changed once Meilin picked up a copy of the New Port City Herald. On the front page was a hot expose of a new drug known as "7 Sins." This new drug was said to produce a high similar to an orgasm coupled with a thrilling sensation of power. It was a very addictive drug which the human body found near impossible to develop a resistance to. When chemically analyzed, scientists found strange unknown additives and ingredients that defied all known chemistry. Being so new, the drug had limited penetration, but was spreading throughout the city.

In a related story, a man had been murdered after a drug deal gone bad. The man, an undercover police officer, was following the trail of the 7 Fold Gang, the sole supplier of 7 Sins, for the New Port City Police Department. However, the circumstances of the man's death were quite bizarre. The man was actually a cyborg and had been brutally hacked up by his murderer. Although there were no pictures of the body, the man was found decapitated and mutilated in his hotel room at 10 o'clock, right after the murder by undercover helpers. The police suspected that this was the work of the 7 Fold Gang.

The paper had a picture of a bottle of 7 Sins. The company logo was a symbol much like a dot with seven arrow pointing away from it. Several hours before the story hit the Herald's front pages, a camera flashed a picture of that very same small bottle. A bespectacled crime scene investigator placed the bottle into a plastic bag and zipped it up for safe transportation to the lab. The scene of the officer's murder was crawling with police and forensics specialists. Another man with a dirty brown mullet approached the crime scene.

He flashed a badge to a guarding officer. "Togusa, Public Security Section 9," he said succinctly. The guard waved him into the area around room 44 of the Traveller's Hotel. Togusa approached a portly police detective and flashed his badge. "Hello, I'm Togusa of Public Security Section 9."

"Yeah, we've been expecting you. Have a look at the crime scene. I'll fill in the details afterwards," informed the detective.

Togusa looked around room 44, which had become the scene of a crime. No sooner than he stepped in the room than he saw something that could only have come from a horror movie. Upon walking in, he noticed a set of soggy footprints leading to the window, which had been shattered during the perpetrator's escape. The prints weren't human and didn't match that of any animal that Togusa was familiar with. As a close approximation, they were reptilian, with three toes and about two feet in length. The tracks originated from a pool of white fluid where the victim's body laid.

The victim's head had been severed from his body and rested at the end of a fluid trail five feet from his torso and right leg. The head had been crushed by the murderer's food, as suggested by the footprint made of fluid on it. His arms had been torn off, with the right one lying between the beds. The other had been hurled into and smashed the television set. His left leg had been severed and was at the base of a chest of drawers.

"This man is Kensuke Nanashi, one of our undercover officers. He was part of an investigation on drug dealers from the 7 Fold Gang," informed the detectives.

After snapping pictures, the crime scene investigators collected the body parts in a black bag and carried them away. "That's the gang that's been selling that new drug, 7 Sins?" asked Togusa.

"Yeah, it's sick what people are willing to put into their bodies," lamented the detective.

"When was the body discovered?" asked Togusa.

"Our men lost their connection to Mr. Nanashi. They stormed the room, but when they got there, he was already dead," informed the detective. "That was around 10 o'clock last night."

"Thank you detective, I'll get the rest of the story from the lab," said Togusa.

The next day, Togusa paid a visit to the forensics lab to learn the rest of the story about Nanashi. The coroner had Nanashi's fully cybernetically-enhanced body laid out on a table and showed each portion as he gave an explanation. "The cause of death was trauma to the occipital and parietal lobes of the victim's brain," informed the coroner. "Basically, our victim took cuts to his arms and legs at around the same time. Once the victim was lying on the ground, the perp lopped off the head with a slash to the back of the neck and stomped on it."

"What weapon did our perp use?" asked Togusa.

"From the pattern of the cuts, it suggests that the murder weapon was a curved instrument with three pointed tips, like an animal's claws," replied the coroner. "Please speak to trace for more details about the claws."

"Hmm... Thank you doctor, I'll do that."

Togusa walked down the hallway and found the man looking through a microscope. Togusa introduced himself to the analyst and asked him about the creature's claws. The man showed him a printout from his scanning computer. "You won't believe this. When I analyzed the claw scrapings, its DNA indicated that it came from a human being!"

"A human? I thought the perp was some kind of animal," said Togusa.

"That's what we all thought, but the machine doesn't lie. That's human DNA we've recovered," said the man.

"Strange... Thank you, I think I've heard enough," said Togusa.

* * *

Togusa prepared a report based on what he had heard from the detective and the technicians at the forensics lab. Togusa's chief at Section 9, Daisuke Aramaki, looked over the reports by his underling. The old chief of Section 9 found Togusa's report odd, but it matched what the autopsy and trace reports said. Whatever had killed Nanashi was indeed human, but had claws and was strong enough to rip a cyborg to pieces. As he looked over the reports a second time, a secured message came directly into his cyberbrain from the chief of police.

"Hello Daisuke, are you well?" asked the chief, a bulky, bespectacled man in uniform.

"I'm fine. What do you need?" asked Aramaki.

"Yeah, we just got word that a big drug shipment is coming in. The 7 Fold Gang is bringing five tons of 7 Sins into New Port tomorrow night by freighter. The NPPD is going to raid that shipment. This is a big bust; we want Section 9 to assist with the operation so it goes smoothly."

"Of course, I'll assemble a team immediately," agreed Aramaki.

The next night, Section 9's members began gearing up for their drug bust. A big man with grey hair tied in a pony tail cocked the trigger of his submachine gun. He looked down the iron sight with his disc-like eyes. The man had had his eyes replaced by white, cybernetic versions which helped aiming and provided low-light vision modes. The man took an ammunition cartridge and popped it into the weapon. He strapped the gun to his body and repeated the same process with a pistol, which he holstered.

"Batou, let's move," urged a female cyborg with violet hair. She was Major Motoko Kusanagi, the squad leader of Section 9.

"Okay, coming Major," replied Batou.

The Section 9 strike team boarded a military helicopter at the roof of their command centre. The chopper made the whole roof quite windy from the whirling of its rotor blades. About an hour later, the police and Section 9 descended on a freighter ship in the docks area. After SWAT secured the open deck, Section 9's helicopter dropped off its members to join them. The teams picked different doors and entered the ship. They traversed the hallways of the ship finding not a single soul anywhere.

Section 9 slowly advanced through the metal hallways of the ship as quietly as possible with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine. Every time they entered a new corridor, Batou and Togusa would cover the hallway as Kusanagi advanced to cover the other end for their advance. They heard the sound of some metal clanging. It came from a nearby storage room. When they opened the door, they found no one inside.

Batou found a fallen wrench inside and picked it up to show to his team. "It was just this," informed Batou.

"Geez, scared me for nothing," remarked Togusa. "I swear that must have taken a year off of my life."

The team continued deeper into the ship, still finding it strangely vacant. They should have found some sign of activity by now, yet nothing. Suddenly, the group heard metal clanging from behind the walls. It came from deeper within the ship's ventilation system, its air vents and ducts. An animalistic hissing and growling followed the clanging along with more steps clanging against the metal air duct. It disappeared as quickly as it came.

"What the hell was that?" asked Batou.

"Sounds like an animal got into the vents," Pazu threw out as a suggestion.

The group heard footsteps again, this time clanging along the metal floor. They took quietly positions to fire on whatever was going to turn the corner. "FREEZE!" cried the Major, as someone turned the corner.

"Hold your fire!" cried the SWAT officer.

Batou sighed. "Uggh, false alarm!"

After clearing the mix up, the groups continued on their separate ways. The Major's group came upon the ship's cargo hold, which had several bags of flour piled in several stacks. After securing the area, the Major opened a bag and smelled the powdery white contents. It gave off a medicinal smell to her nostril sensors. "We've hit the jackpot," she proclaimed.

"Phew phwew!" whistled Batou in bewilderment. "There must be a billion Yen worth of this stuff here!"

Suddenly, the Section 9 team heard something screech elsewhere in the ship. "KEEEEE!"

Gunshots rang out from the same direction elsewhere in the ship. "Ishikawa, come in," requested the Major.

The image of a bearded, older Japanese man with brown hair appeared before her. "Major, we'll lost contact with Team Alpha. Team Beta reports that they're coming under attack."

Several more gunshots rang through the ship followed by screaming SWAT officers. "Who? Is it the smugglers?" asked the Major.

"I don't know, I can't get a signal. There's too much interference. Wait, I'm getting scattered reports... They say the attackers aren't human and..." replied Ishikawa. "Damn, I've lost contact with Team Beta now!"

Aramaki's face appeared on the communications line. "Major, we can only assume Teams Alpha and Beta had been ambushed and killed. I'm ordering all of the teams to retreat for now. That goes for you too."

"Orders from the Chief; we're getting out of here now! Move it!" ordered the Major.

The Section 9 team backtracked their way through the ship to escape the debacle. After traversing several dark metal hallways, the team came upon several dismembered bodies strewn about the ground. Batou recognized the face of one of the men. "This is Team Alpha. Who or what could've done this?"

"Chief, we've found the remains of Team Alpha in the aft lower deck," said the Major, who send the video to Aramaki.

"Major, continue your escape," ordered Aramaki.

The sound of gunfire moved across the hallway opposite the teams. They heard the sound of hissing and growling following another SWAT team. One of the men backed away while firing at an unseen attacker. A single black clawed hand descended upon the SWAT officer, cutting him down in a single stroke. His white artificial blood splattered all over the hallway. The hand's owner turned the corner and came face to face with the team. What the team saw defied all expectations. It was not a human they were dealing with but a monster!

The creature had a vaguely humanoid body about seven feet in height. Its body was so black that it was almost like a silhouette, a shadow given form. The creature had a reptilian head with a maw filled with large sharp teeth. Its hutched body rippled with muscle as it snarled and its chest rose and sank with its breathing. The creature had hands and feet with sharp hooked claws perfect for tearing into flesh. It turned to Section 9 and snarled at them threateningly.

"KEEEE!" it screeched threateningly.

"My God!" said Togusa, horrified at the sight of the creature. "Is that what killed Nanashi?"

"What the hell is that thing?" asked Batou almost rhetorically.

"Shoot it!" cried the Major.

The team unloaded dozens of roads into the monster. The creature staggered as bullets impacted its body. It seemed quite resistant to them. Batou unloaded a contact grenade right into the creature's face. The explosion put the monster on its back, but it bounced back up a few seconds later. The creature advanced, but the team pelted it with suppressing fire. Batou was barely able to reload his grenade launcher, but he did and popped the creature in the face once again. This time, the grenade blew off the creature's head, ensuring that it would not be getting up a second time. Rather than stay to savour their victory, the team continued its retreat.

When they left the last hallway, more of these monsters were hot on their tail. They fired from the outer deck down the hallway at the charging horde. The Major pulled a grenade's pin and lobbed it into the hallway. It exploded with a deafening bang, blasting all of the monsters to kingdom come. The team ran down the entry and ramp and into the warehouse area of the docks. One of the creatures descended onto the group from above, forcing them to scatter. The Major and Batou made one group while Boma and Togusa made the other.

As the groups fled for cover, Section 9's sniper picked off the creature with a well placed head shot. More monsters emerged from the boat, pouncing into the midst of the group. It was survival now as the monsters jumped off of the boat to give pursuit. These smaller groups were forced to split up further as more monsters descended into their midst. Togusa ran deeper into the warehouse district through alleys and wherever else he could he squeeze into. On the rooftops, a black shadow was tailing his every move.

Togusa ran deeper in the city, still aware that the monster was in pursuit. He reached the alleyway between a restaurant and a store. The shadow descended from the sky, blocking the entrance. Togusa looked for a way out but found none behind him. He was in trouble. The monster continued advancing on him, forcing him to back up further. It snarled with an almost sadistic glee, as though enjoying the fear and torment it was inflicting on him. Seeing that escape was impossible, he decided to risk it all and fight back.

As he reached for his gun, the monster backhanded him into the rear alley wall. Togusa had been dazed by the blow and subsequent impact with a wall. His weapon flew out of reach. Now disoriented, everything was a blur as the monster continued to advance on him. What happened next was something he wasn't sure was real or not. The monster suddenly went up into flames for no apparent reason.

"GAAAAAARRGGGH!" it roared in agony, as the supernatural fires seared its very being. Its arm severed from its body once the flames burnt through its elbow. Within seconds, the creature was nothing more than ash.

As his last sight before passing out, Togusa could've sworn he saw two children milling about the area. One appeared to be a boy and the other a girl. They said some words to each other and picked up the creature's severed arm. Suddenly, fire truck and police sirens began to approach the area. The children vanished in a flicker of light just as Togusa blacked out. Once he regained consciousness, he found himself in a sterile room with lights shining into his eyes from the roof.

"Oh honey, you're awake!" said his wife.

"Daddy!" cried his daughter, who gave him a hug.

"Hey!" said Togusa.

After reassuring his family, Togusa took some time to rest. Later on, the Major and Batou came to see him. It was a convenient visit for Togusa. He had many questions in his mind about that night. "Well, well, feeling better?" asked Batou.

"Yeah, quite a bit. I hope the others got away like you did," said Togusa.

"Don't worry, Section 9 made it out safely," replied Batou. "I can't say the same about some of the SWAT guys though."

"Yeah, don't remind me," said Togusa. "Were we the only ones who made it out alive?"

"One other team got out, but that's about it," replied the Major. "Can you tell me what happened when you got separated from us?"

"Well, I ran into an alley to escape that 'thing' that was chasing me. I ran into a dead end and it cornered me. I reached for my gun, but it knocked me into the wall. Everything after that was a blur, but I remember seeing the creature bursting into flame and some kids," replied Togusa.

"Okay thanks, get better soon," said the Major.

Batou and Kusanagi left the hospital room. "Well?" asked Batou.

Kusanagi thought back to the security video which showed the kids in the alley with Togusa. The girl gestured at the creature from out of its view, somehow causing it to burst into flame. "It seems he doesn't know anything about it," remarked Kusanagi.

"To think it was a pair of kids who saved our guy... What's the world coming to?" asked Batou rhetorically. "Now I've seen everything..."

* * *

Later on, Kusanagi and Batou returned to the Section 9 headquarters. On the agenda for their next meeting with Chief Aramaki was the disastrous raid on the drug shipment. "Due to the fiasco with the drug bust, we have been given strict orders not to perform any more drug busts related to 7 Sins for the time being. Our mission now is to acquire more information about those 'things' that killed our SWAT teams," said Aramaki. "We'll start with this."

Aramaki showed a forensics picture of the demon's severed arm with a ruler to indicate its size. "Is that an arm from one of those 'things' that attacked us at the ship?" asked Batou.

"Yes, the forensics experts at the crime labs had done DNA tests on it. This arm is from a human," said Aramaki.

Aramaki's revelation was a bombshell. "Human? That's impossible! There's no way that thing can be a human!" said Batou.

"The experts thought they had made some mistake and rechecked their tests. They got the same result every time. It's human," replied Aramaki matter-of-factly.

"I don't know about you guys, but this shit is really starting to scare the hell out of me now!" admitted Pazu.

"What we need is more information. We can't let these things run around the city," said Aramaki.

"You're telling me! Our best lead right now is those kids," said Batou. "They were far more effective at fighting those things than we were. They seemed to know more that we did about what's going on."

"Yes, that seems to be the case," Aramaki agreed.

"Chief, I suggest that we try to make contact with them," recommended Kusanagi. "They might be able to tell us about what they are and how we can beat them the next time."

"The question is, how do we find them?" asked Batou. "They aren't in any database, so it's not like we can just walk up to their front door and knock."

"They're likely show up again when another one of those monsters do too," said Aramaki.

"Ah crap!" decried Batou.

"That's pretty much our only option," said Kusanagi. "We should be a state of high alert for the next few days, ready to go out once one of them shows up."

The members of Section 9 began to monitor the streets and the media vigilantly for any signs that the children will show up. One night, their vigil paid dividends and they caught the Cardcaptors on satellite. Batou watched as Shaoran and Meilin flew through the sky above with the wings of the Fly Card. "I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. They're flying? Now I've seen everything."

"Quick follow them!" said Kusanagi.

The Section 9 agents followed the Cardcaptors on foot, eschewing the helicopter they usually used to avoid alarming them. The Cardcaptors continued through the sky until they found a demon wandering in the shadows of the alleys. The creature towered over the children and had a jet black body. Its burning red eyes fixated on the children, the hostility clearly evident in them. It snarled at the children threateningly, but with a sadistic glee creeping into its lips.

The seven-arrowed Rune on its head glowed with a foul black light, as though passing instructions directly into its mind. The creature rushed at them. It attempted to slash Meilin, literally dividing her into two identical clones. The creature lunged again, but one of the twins landed on the creature's outstretched arm. The Meilin Twin ran along the arm and kicked the creature in the face. She somersault off and landed on the ground safely.

Her foot had hit with such force that the creature tumbled back and was forced to prop itself up against a brick wall. The creature quickly recovered and charged. The Cardcaptors fled the alley to find more space to fight the monster. It breathed fire which Meilin and Shaoran blocked with the bluish light bubble of the Shield Card. The flames washed over the protective bubble without causing any of them discomfort.

"So you like fire? Time to cool off!" said Shaoran.

Shaoran summoned the icy powers of the Freeze Card. The cold air froze a trail of ice clumps along the ground as it raced forward. It immediately formed a coat of frost on the creature's ribs. The frost crept over the creature's body, but it shook it off and renewed its attack. The creature spewed roaring flames at Shaoran. Like a blur, he fled under the Dash Card's supernatural speed. He summoned the Sand Card which formed a pit of quicksand which trapped the demon.

"Time to finish this!" said Shaoran. He summoned the Freeze Card, which frosted the demon's head. The frost spread along its body until it was completely covered. With a mighty kick, she shattered the creature into countless pieces. "Well, that takes care of that."

A clapping approached the two Cardcaptors. It came from Batou, who seemed quite impressed with their victory. "Well done!"

"What do you want?" asked Shaoran.

"We want to thank you," said Kusanagi. "You saved the life of one of our team mates."

"Er, you're welcome," said Meilin, not sure how to react to this situation.

"Listen," addressed Kusanagi. "We want to know more about these monsters."

"The best thing for you to do is to not fight them. You're dealing with the supernatural. You are dealing with something you do not understand," said Shaoran.

"Yeah, the best thing you can do is to stop anyone else from taking 7 Sins," warned Meilin.

"Does that new drug have something to do with this?" asked Batou.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, but yes, it's a big part of what's happening here," said Shaoran. "It makes the monsters that we fought, the same one who tried to kill your friend. They have a leader and if we can find and get rid of him, all the monsters should go away."

"That's enough Shaoran, we have to keep searching!" said Meilin.

Shaoran dashed away at incredible speeds. Meilin on the other hand, leapt onto the roof of the nearest buildings, following Shaoran by leaping across the rooftops. The two magicians vanished into the darkness of the night. Batou and Kusanagi returned to Section 9 with the information gleaned from their conversation with Shaoran and Meilin. The team gathered once again to hear what they had discovered from the Cardcaptors.

"So, 7 Sins is what responsible for creating these monsters?" asked Aramaki.

"Specifically, they said that it's a major part of what's going on," said Kusanagi. "They told us it was more complicated than that, but didn't tell us exactly how. They did mention we were dealing with the supernatural."

"Supernatural? Like magic?" asked Boma.

"Yeah, I thought it was pretty crackpot too, but after seeing them and these monsters, I don't know what to believe any more," admitted Batou.

"Chief," addressed Ishikawa through his cyberbrain. "I've just received a chemical analysis report on 7 Sins from the crime lab. You won't believe what this stuff is made of."

"What is it?" asked Aramaki.

"7 Sins is 90 sugar, plain old sugar that can be bought in any store. Another 9 is a cocktail of drugs like cocaine and marijuana."

Aramaki was quite piqued by this revelation. "...And what about the last 1?"

"Unknown," replied Ishikawa. "The chemical analysis couldn't determine what it was."

"Thank you, Ishikawa, I'll read the report later," said Aramaki.

He proceeded reveal to his team what he had heard from Ishikawa. It was quite a surprise to them. "So, that stuff is just sugar and drugs that get you high?" asked Pazu.

"That's correct," replied Aramaki. "However, there's still 1 that hasn't been accounted for."

"I have a hunch that that is what making our monsters," said Batou.

Just moments after reported about 7 Sins chemical composition, Ishikawa came back with more news. "Chief, I've just found a new lead in the 7 Fold Gang case."

Ishikawa reported on a tidbit of information a police informant had discovered while working plain-clothes. It seemed that the 7 Fold Gang was going to expand its operations into the American Empire. Its leader was to oversee a big outbound shipment of 7 Sins at the docks of New Port City within four days. The 7 Fold Gang's mysterious leader was known only as "Yuber." This was a perfect opportunity to decapitate the 7 Fold Gang and shut down the entire drug ring in one fell swoop.

Armed with this hot new information, Section 9 and the police made preparations to raid the drug shipment. After analysis of the last battle, the authorities prepared their field agents more properly. This time, they knew the demons were waiting for them. A cybernetics specialist adjusted Batou's eyes to more properly see the creatures, especially in the dark. When the adjustments were done, Batou was able to see a dead demon's body highlighted in green light.

Moments before the raid was to begin, the Section 9 team loaded their weapons with armour-piercing bullets. Since the demons' skin was so tough, they needed these specialized bullets to be able to penetrate their skin. They pulled out the old clips and locked in the new ones into their guns. Their helicopter shuttled them to an area near where the shipment was to be inspected by Yuber.

The location of the outbound shipment was a trio of warehouses standing side by side. They were stuffed with crates of 7 Sins ready to smuggle into the American Empire. Section 9 was to storm the central warehouse while police SWAT teams took the other two. The police sealed off the area around the warehouses to ensure no one could get in or out without being noticed. When the preparations were ready, the higher ups gave the word to storm the buildings.

Kusanagi bombed open the locked doors for Section 9 to run in. Immediately upon entering, they spotted the demons inside. Batou gunned down one of the monsters as it charged at him to attack. Another breathed in and exhaled blistering flames from its mouth. Batou took cover behind a crate until the fires subsided. He peeked out and fired, hitting the creature in the head.

Section 9 quickly dispatched the rest of the demons with their newly upgraded weapons. The group split up to cover more territory in the warehouse. "Pazu, what's your status?" asked Kusanagi.

"I found more crates of 7 Sins, but no sign of Yuber," he replied.

Even after polling the other agents, Kusanagi couldn't find anyone who had spotted Yuber. "He might be in one of the other warehouses," remarked Batou.

"Maybe, but something is strange about this," said Kusanagi. "Let's have a look at what's in these crates." She pulled out a pouch of 7 Sins to confirm that they had busted the raided the right location. She took a whiff of the drug through its pouch pulled out a pouch of the drug smelled it. The pouch was effectively scentless, something that was not consistent with 7 Sins' composition. Since it contained marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs, she should have smelled something.

"What's the problem?" asked Batou.

"Smell this," said Kusanagi.

"I don't smell anything," remarked Batou.

Meanwhile outside, the police held the line. They were anxious about what the SWAT teams were doing inside the warehouse. A crowd had started to gather around to see what was going on, but the police kept them behind the line. All of a sudden, a shrill screeching ripped through the air. Several demons descended behind the crowd. Seeing such horrifying creatures caused them to panic. They ran away in any direction they could, even through the police line, nearly trampling the officers in the rush.

The police attempted to wade through the crowd and restore order. One officer spotted a demon and opened fire with his pistol. The demon recoiled in pain before slashing at the officer with its claws. In one blow, it felled the cybernetic officer, leaving him mangled on the ground as a mess of wires, metal, and spilt artificial blood. Section 9 heard the screaming and gunfire from inside their warehouse. They were followed by people screaming and officials yelling frantically.

"Boma, what's going on out there?" asked Kusanagi through the cyberbrain.

"Major, get out of there! It's..." said Boma, before being cut off by static.

"Damn!" said Batou. "It's a trap!"

The Major broadcasted Boma's message to the entire team. "All members of Section 9, regroup with me on the double. Move it!"

The Section 9 members wasted no time in following the Major's orders. As they left the warehouse, they were greeted by the sight of pure chaos. A sea of panicking people rushed by in a desperate attempt to escape certain death. The demons killed innocent people with immoral abandon, seemingly relishing the suffering they were causing. Elsewhere, police officers began to fire on the demons in an attempt to kill or drive them away.

They waded through the crowd and fired upon demons whenever one came too close. Kusanagi spewed bullets out at an unaware demon that was attacking innocents fleeing across the road before the warehouses. Even though the police downed several demons in the chaos, more seemed to arrive on the scene to take their place. Batou saw another coming from a different direction and gunned it down. The creature felled to the ground in a bullet-riddled mess.

Section 9 joined with a group of police and supported them in firing back at the monsters. One of the demons pounced on one of the officers and rent his cybernetic body to shreds, piece by piece. Pazu and Kusanagi turned their weapons on the creature and mowed it down. From cover, Saito let lose a sniper's bullet. It punctured a demon's head, killing it in a single shot.

Unknown to him, a demon attempted to approach him from behind, but his assistant, Boma, was a second quicker. He turned around and gunned down the demon right before it could attack. "We have to leave. This position has been compromised," said Boma.

Boma wasn't kidding. He spotted three more demons climbing up the side of the building to get to them. Boma gunned them down as, Saito packed up his sniper's gear. "Major, the creatures have compromised our location. We can't provide any more back-up," informed Saito over a cyberbrain channel.

"Understood, get out of there as soon as you can," replied Kusanagi over the same channel.

Back at the warehouse location, the police continued to fight the demons, but were having little success. The creatures were endless and swarming the area in a murderous rage. The warehouse area was a blood bath with dead police, innocents, and even demons scattered everywhere on the ground. The police were forced back off a city block in order to form a line to contain the beasts. From this line, Batou fired on the demons along with the Major and Pazu.

The Section 9 helicopter flew by overhead, but a demon pounced onto the front windshield. It smashed the bullet-proof glass and killed the cyborg pilot. Without the pilot, the helicopter went out of control. Seeing no other recourse, Boma and Saito jumped out to save themselves and landed on the roof of a building. A block away, the helicopter crashed into the ground in a way sure to kill anyone inside, including the demon.

Kusanagi and Batou fired on the demons as they swarmed the line, killing several in the ensuing fire. A small fragment of stone fell on Batou's head, drawing his attention upwards. When he looked up, he saw, to his horror, a demon descending right upon on him! Batou froze momentarily, right before something unknown froze the demon solid midair. The demon landed on him, burying him underneath its body.

Kusanagi and Pazu helped pulled him out from underneath the frozen demon. Physically, Batou suffered only a minor injury that could be easily repaired from a quick visit to a mechanic. Mentally, he was still unnerved from the demon's sudden attack. The demons continued to apply pressure on the police line as they started to break through. One of them leapt onto the barricade and fatally rent a police officer. Another gunned the monster down, only to have another leap onto the barricade.

"Damn, we're being swarmed! We have to get out of here!" said Batou.

"This way!" cried a child-like voice.

It was Meilin, standing beside a glimmering doorway of light. She was gesturing to Section 9, telling them to flee while they still could. "It's them, what do we do?" asked Batou.

"Run!" cried Saito from down the street. "Those things totalled our helicopter. Without it, there's no way we can escape alive."

Kusanagi watched as the demons cut down the last officer, allowing them to breach the barricade. "Go in!"

Without a second thought, the Section 9 members entered Meilin's portal. The first to go was Boma, followed by Saito. Kusanagi, Batou, and Pazu fired on the attacking monsters to provide cover for their escape. Shaoran whipped up a fierce tornado from the Storm Card. It sucked in all of the demons attempting to breach the barricade and battered them in a dizzying circle. Even after subsiding, more seemed to arrive to take their place.

Everyone fled into the portal just as the demons attempted to pounce onto them. The portal closed just in the nick of time. The members of Section 9 found themselves in the middle of the archaeological camp at the site of the Harmonian ruins. "Where are we?" asked Pazu.

"You're at Crystal Valley," replied Meilin.

** END OF CHAPTER **

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** SPOTLIGHT: Cyberia (Ghost in the Shell) **

Politics:  
Cyberia is a world of many different nations like our own with varying political systems. Among the anime worlds, it is a bit backwater with virtually no contact with other anime worlds. As such, it is isolationist by default. Its state is a possible glimpse of what holds in the future of the Human World. The Internet has caused the world to become so intertwined that cyber-crime is far more dangerous and rampant in this world. To deter these hackers and other terrorists, Public Security Section 9 is dispatched to fight them.

Characters/VIPs:  
The major players are the members of Public Security Section 9. This group is a Japanese counter-terrorist group which also provides protection for important dignitaries and investigates high-level crime like espionage. They include Motoko Kusanagi, Togusa, and Batou.

Powers:  
Cyberia is a cyberpunk icon of the anime worlds. Science is completely dominant here. The other power types are virtually unheard of. Cybernetics are quite possibly the most important commodity in Cyberia. The world is connected together by the Internet and almost everyone has acquired cybernetic implants to facilitate connection.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Sevenfold Rune **  
Domain: Transcendence, suffering, morality, sin  
Duality: Transcendence vs. Nihilism  
Appearance: 7 golden arrows pointing in different directions, all originating from the same point  
Powers: Summons/controls demons

Description:  
This cursed Rune governs the suffering of the world and the sins which cause it. It also represents the transcendence from the same. Like the legendary Bodhisattva, the one who bears the Rune is no longer a mere mortal, having transcended mortal suffering. He tries to help others, but finds it virtually impossible. He falls to cynicism and eventually concludes that the only hope left is to destroy it all and start anew. The Rune's bearer has the ability to call and possess people with demons.


	4. Warlords 1: The Past and the Future

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. From this chapter on, this story will feature Tenchi Muyo from Geneon and Fullmetal Alchemist from Square Enix. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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Warlords of Jurai, part 1: The Past and the Future 

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A bright new day dawned on a wooden cottage by the lakeside somewhere in the Japanese countryside. It was a place of rolling hills covered by lush greenery. Near the cottage was a single Shinto shrine at the top of a hill which blended in with its surroundings. Inside the cottage, a Japanese teenager by the name of Tenchi Masaki awoke to the light of the sun. Unlike ordinary boys, Tenchi was part alien, descended from the royalty of the alien planet Jurai. Despite such noble blood, he lived a rather simple life.

Tenchi rolled over to his left and found another person in bed with him. The cyan-haired girl was beautiful and had a somewhat cat-like face. Her skin was smooth and her eyes were golden. "Good morning, Tenchi!" said the girl, Ryoko Hakubi.

"AHHH! Ryoko!" screamed Tenchi. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought since this bed was so nice and warm, I'd keep you company," replied Ryoko.

"If Aeka finds out you're here she'll..."

Before Tenchi could finish his sentence he heard a knocking at his bedroom door. "Lord Tenchi, I've brought you some tea!"

"Oh crap!" thought Tenchi.

A demure, violet-haired girl in Japanese robes opened the door and stepped in. She immediately saw Ryoko in bed with Tenchi and angrily slammed the tray onto his desk, spilling some tea out of the cup. "Miss Ryoko, what are you doing in Lord Tenchi's bed?"

"Well princess, I was feeling cold last night so I decided to cuddle up to my Tenchi," said Ryoko, nuzzling against the chest of her love interest.

"Urrrrr!" growled the now not so demure girl, Aeka. "Get out of his bed this instant!"

Ryoko casually climbed out of the bed, not really concerned with Aeka. Fortunately, she was fully clothed and hadn't gotten as far as Aeka feared. Ryoko beamed a smile at Tenchi. "Next time, we'll try that without our clothes," said Ryoko, as though to provoke a reaction from Aeka.

Aeka fumed as Ryoko sauntered away with a smug smile on her face. "Are you okay, Lord Tenchi? I hope that demon girl didn't do anything inappropriate to you..."

"No, I'm fine," replied Tenchi. "So you brought tea?"

"Yeah, Sasami boiled it. It's green tea," said Aeka watching Tenchi take a sip of it.

"Thank you Aeka, that was very kind of you," said Tenchi. Aeka was quite happy to have made some inroads in her relationship with Tenchi. The two went down to eat breakfast.

At the kitchen was a blue-haired girl of elementary school age. She was frying some eggs at the stove top while bread toasted in a nearby toaster oven. She fetched a carrot from the fridge and fed it to a pet which was a hybrid of a cat and a rabbit. Already at the table, reading a newspaper, was Tenchi's father, a bespectacled man with somewhat unkempt hair. The other person there was a bubbly blonde with tanned skin. The cook was Sasami Jurai and the ones at the table were Nobuyuki Masaki and Mihoshi Kuramitsu. The family pet was known as Ryo-Ohki.

"Good morning everyone," greeted Tenchi.

"Good morning, Tenchi," said Nobuyuki.

"Say, have you seen Washu or your grandfather lately?" asked Sasami.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen them in quite awhile," remarked Mihoshi.

"Same here," agreed Sasami. "They haven't asked me for any food lately."

"Well, you know how Washu gets when she's wrapped up in her latest invention," said Tenchi. "I'm sure she'll come around when she's ready."

"Yeah, but it's been like a week since she we last seen her. I'm starting to get worried," said Sasami.

Aeka pondered this event. "I don't want to intrude, but we should really see if she's alright. Even if she's busy with an invention, she should at least have the courtesy visit us every once in a while."

Nobuyuki looked at the calendar. "Hmm... Come to think of it, we haven't seen grandpa in a long time either. I'm going to town after work to check up on him, so save some dinner for me."

"Okay," said Sasami.

"We'll finish breakfast first. No use going in on an empty stomach," said Tenchi.

After eating breakfast, Tenchi and the girls went into the closet at the base of the stairs. In reality, it was a dimensional doorway to Washu's lab. Upon entry, they were greeted by the sight of machinery, computers, and circuitry over the room. Washu would normally be directly in the middle, typing away at a spectral keyboard. This time, she was strangely absent.

"She's not here," said Mihoshi.

Aeka queried the computer. "It says that Washu left for a place called 'Shamballa,'" said Aeka.

"It must be some other dimension of some kind," said Tenchi.

"It says here that she went there about a month ago," Aeka read from the screen.

"We should go there to see if she's alright," said Tenchi.

After gathering equipment for the mission, they returned to Washu's lab. Ryoko fired up Washu's dimensional gate system. It opened a shimmering silver portal to the world of Shamballa. "Let's go!" said Ryoko.

Tenchi's group found themselves in the middle of a vast, uninhabited desert. The sun was shining brightly, beating down on the land with its oppressive heat. Immediately upon entry, the group could feel the sun beating down on them. "Whoa, this is hot," said Sasami. "If I stay here too long, I'll pass out."

"Yeah, we've got to find a town quickly," said Mihoshi.

Ryoko flew high into the sky to scout out possible towns from the air. She spotted one near an oasis rich with water and covered by lush vegetation. She directed the group to this town, where they refilled on water and supplies. "I've never felt so grateful just to get a drink of water," said Mihoshi.

"Yeah, this place is so hot. My clothes are getting drenched from sweat," remarked Sasami.

"Bear with it a little longer, Sasami. It shouldn't be difficult to find her. Washu stands out, so it should be easy to spot her," observed Aeka.

The Oasis Town was a humble village inhabited by a less developed people called the Ishbalans. They were a brown-skinned, red-eyed people akin to the Arabs of the Human World both physically and culturally. They found Tenchi's group strange, especially the females who had exotically coloured hair. The group asked around for anyone who had seen Washu, even showing them a picture to help visualize her. Unfortunately, no one had seen her.

After fruitlessly searching for over an hour and a half, the group reunited to discuss findings. "I didn't find anything either," said Ryoko.

"Where could she be?" asked Tenchi.

As they pondered their next move, a squad of police officers stormed past them on the street. "I wonder where they're off to in a hurry?" asked Mihoshi.

Aeka looked down the street and saw what looked like a robot advancing along the road. It was a humanoid construct which carried futuristic, high tech weapons not congruous with this area. The robot fired energy weapons randomly at the townspeople and the buildings. People screamed and fled in terror from the rampaging machine. Police opened fire with rifles, but their bullets merely deflected off of the war machine's metal chassis.

"It's shooting people! We've got to stop that thing!" said Tenchi.

Tenchi activated his Juraian battle attire and pulled out the Master Key Sword. The bladeless handle produced a blade of blue light. The robot fired at Tenchi but he deflected the red shots with the blade. Aeka took Tenchi's side, but the robot turned its attack onto her as well. To defend herself, she set up a barrier of illusionary logs. Taking heavy fire, neither could get close enough to attack.

Ryoko suddenly appeared behind the robot. It instantly sensed her presence and turned around to shoot her. She dodged and hurled bolts of orange energy. Although it had sidestepped the first three shots, the fourth hit its mark and toppled the robot. Even on the ground, it continued to shoot at Ryoko, forcing her to teleport away. Tenchi snuck in and decapitated the robot.

"What was that thing?" asked Ryoko.

"I don't know, but I don't like the look of it," said Aeka.

"Aye, those things have been attacking us constantly," remarked an old Ishbalan man.

"You mean there are more of these things?" asked Ryoko.

"That's right, young lady. A lot of good people lost their lives to those bloody things," cursed the old man. "Even the State military can't take on this firepower."

"State military... Do you know where we can find a State military barracks?" asked Tenchi.

"Of course," replied the man. "In that case, you'd want to go to East City. It's just north of town through the desert."

"Thanks old man," said Tenchi.

Tenchi's group made their way over the desert to East City, the easternmost city of the nation of Amestris. Unlike the Oasis Town, East City was populated by people of Germanic descent. They were a fair-skinned people with hair ranging from blond to black and eyes ranging from brown to blue. Several men in jackboots and blue military uniforms patrolled the streets of the city. Since it was getting late, the group checked into a nearby hotel to stay the night.

* * *

Elsewhere, two brothers and their female friend were relaxing in the lounge of an Amestrian military base. The first was a blond, teenaged boy in a red overcoat. His left leg and right arm had been amputated and replaced by mechanical prosthetics known as Automail. He was also a prodigy of the science known as alchemy. He was the Fullmetal Alchemist, a nicknamed earned from becoming an alchemist and Major in the State military. He was Edward Elric.

His younger brother, Alphonse Elric, wasn't human. After a failed alchemic transmutation to resurrect their mother from the dead, Alphonse lost his physical body. Now, he was merely a soul, bound to a seal of blood within a suit of medieval armour. Due to his possession of the suit, it seemed to have become more expressive, especially in the face. Like Edward, Al was also an alchemic prodigy, but wasn't a member of the military.

The sixteen-year-old girl was a beautiful blonde with eyes as blue as the sea. She wore a white halter-top which showed the fair, silky skin of her arms. The girl had an expression of dedication and enjoyment as she worked. She examined and tuned Ed Elric's Automail prosthetics to ensure their proper functioning. She was Winry Rockbell, a mechanic who specialized in Automail, and the friend of the Elric brothers.

"Honestly Ed, you have to be more careful out there," said Winry. "This is the second time I had to fix you up this week!"

"Says you... You're not out there getting shot at by killer robots. Those things keep coming and we still don't know who or what's making them," said Ed.

"Hey, don't complain to me!" said Winry. "...But you know, I'd really love to take one of those things apart. I'd love to see how it thinks, the circuitry, the metal..."

"Machine junkie alert! Machine junkie alert!" mocked Ed.

"Oh shut up!" said Winry, smacking Ed in the back of the head.

"You may think they're cool, but wait 'til you find yourself at the wrong end of their guns," said Al. "You won't think they're so cool then."

"Could you at least bring me an arm, a leg, anything?" asked Winry.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll see what I can do," said Ed.

Winry finished the maintenance of Ed's Automail prosthetics and went to visit his superior's officer. The young, dark-haired man was Col. Roy Mustang, also a State alchemist of Amestris. "Hello Elric, we've just received hot new information on those robot attacks."

Col. Mustang showed Ed a picture of a lone girl with spiky pink hair among the robots. She had the mark of a silver gear on her forehead. "So, does that mean those 'things' have a leader?" asked Ed.

"We think so," replied Col. Mustang. "This girl was seen leading the last attack against Lior. Our forces repelled the attack, thankfully, and managed to snap this picture. Your mission is to capture this woman in any way possible and shut down her operation. Since her attacks have been against Lior and here in East City, we believe her headquarters is hidden in the nearby desert, but we don't know where. I suggest you go to Lior and ask Colonel Maes Hughes for help. Take this photo with you. Good luck, Elric."

Ed took a copy of the photo and left Col. Mustang's office. He led Al and Winry to the train station. Along the way, the group encountered a disturbance in one of the hotels near a street with grocery stands. A group of foreigners were standing outside, watching a pair of girls fight. Unlike ordinary girls, these two were using some form of supernatural power to battle. The violet-haired girl surrounded her cyan-haired foe in a swarm of log-like objects.

The cyan-haired one hurled a bolt of orange energy which the violet one sidestepped. The bolt travelled on, catching Ed by surprise. It burned through part of his jacket pocket, but otherwise missed him. His photo fell out during the commotion. Their rabbit-like pet found the photo and examined it. "Miya! Miya!" it cheered triumphantly.

It brought the photo back with it and tugged on the ankle of a small girl with peacock blue hair. "What's this?" asked the girl, picking up the photo. "Hey, that's Washu!"

"Washu? Where?" asked the only boy in the group.

"Miya miya!" said the pet, pointing a paw at Ed, who ducked behind a barrel to avoid a shot.

"Oh, I see, he must have dropped it trying to avoid Ryoko and Aeka," remarked Sasami. "Hey you two, we found a picture of Washu!"

Ryoko was about to punch Aeka, but stopped in the middle of the act. "Where?"

The girls dropped what they were doing and examined the photo Ryo-Ohki had picked up. "That's Washu alright, but what's that mark on her forehead?" asked Aeka.

"It looks like a gear," said Ryoko.

When Ed checked his pocket, he realized that he had dropped it and one of the foreigners had found it. "Can I have my photo back?" asked Ed.

"Where did you get this?" asked Ryoko, grabbing his shirt. "Tell me!"

"Hey, let him go!" said Al, trying help Ed get free.

"Let him go, Ryoko. Let me speak," said Aeka. "We'd like to know, where you got this photo? This person is someone we're looking for."

"Really? I just so happens that I'm looking for her too," said Ed, who introduced himself as a State alchemist on a mission. "Who is this woman?"

"Her name is Washu Hakubi," replied Tenchi. "She's been missing from our home for a month now. We got concerned and came to find out what's going on."

"So she's a member of your family?" asked Winry, looking at Tenchi and his harem of girls.

"Yeah," replied Aeka. "Since you have this photo, you must know something about where she is."

"Sort of," said Ed. "She's the ringleader of some robots that have been attacking cities and towns in the area. My orders are to capture her and stop the attacks."

"Does anyone find this strange?" asked Mihoshi. "Why would Washu build robots to attack the town? It isn't like her."

"We're going to find out," said Tenchi. "Ed, I think we should team up. Are you okay with that?"

"Sure, we'll go to Lior City to investigate," said Ed.

The combined group of Tenchi's harem and Ed's unit boarded the trains for Lior. Upon reaching that city, Ed split up and visited the State barracks. He found a black-haired, bespectacled man with a light beard. The man was dressed in the blue uniform of a State serviceman. This man was Maes Hughes, recently promoted to the rank of Colonel for his bravery in exposing Omnipotence-Abh activity during the Omnipotence War.

Since it was a military outpost, only Ed could go in to visit Col. Hughes. "Oh hi Ed, how have ya been?" asked Hughes.

"Fine," said Ed.

"Oh yeah, I'll feeling good. I just saw my little girl off to kindergarten for the first time today. She'll be a doctor or a State alchemist one day," said Hughes. "...But enough about me. I believe you have a reason for visiting..."

"Of course," said Ed, who told him about Mustang's orders and the photo.

"Ah, I see. Those things have been giving us quite a hard time, but we might have their number now. We've just found what appears to be a factory out in the middle of the desert to the northeast of Lior. We're sending men to scout the area, but it's been difficult since the place is heavily guarded. Nevertheless, we're making steady progress. In the meantime, we're mobilizing troops for an attack. You'll be participating in this attack, Ed."

Ed agreed and continued on by telling Hughes about Tenchi's group and who Washu was. "So the leader of the robot is an alien scientist?" asked Hughes.

"That's right. I met some friends and relatives of Washu on the way here. They told me she's been missing for a few weeks, so they came to find her. They also told me this isn't normal behaviour for her," said Ed.

"Hmm..." pondered Hughes.

"I believe it would be a good idea to let them help. They have special powers and I'm sure Washu would have some too. I think we'll need them in order to counter her."

"Very well. I want to talk to them before I make my decision," said Hughes. Ed took Hughes to Tenchi's harem, which was waiting in the eatery of a nearby hotel. Hughes questioned them on Washu and they told him the same things Ed did in his briefing. Hughes sensed no hidden motives or deception from them as he conducted the interview. "We know where Washu is. We're preparing to attack this place and would like you to assist."

"Okay, how are we going to do this?" asked Tenchi.

Hughes then told them about the factory where the State military had spotted Washu. "So she's in this factory?" asked Ryoko.

"Yes, our men saw her there leading robots," said Hughes. "We believe this is where she's making them. We're scouting the area to plan our attack. Once that's done, we'll begin. For now, we have to wait."

The combined teams waited until the State formulated a plan of attack from gathered intelligence. The day after, the military and Tenchi's harem mobilized into the desert to begin battle. State firing squads formed lines behind cover and fired upon the robots with rifles and Gatling guns. In turn, the robots returned fired with more futuristic weapons, energy weapons which expelled red particle bolts.

Ryoko teleported into the midst of several robots and cut all of them down with a slash of a blade of pure energy. She hurled several bolts of energy into three other robots from behind. Each bolt punctured its target and triggered a small explosion in the power core. Another tried to shoot her, but she sank into the ground and resurfaced behind that robot. With a single energy bolt, she destroyed the machine.

Other robots noticed Aeka and fired. She immediately shielded herself with the Juraian log barrier. She summoned a second barrier around the robots which blasted lightning into them. Being electronic machines, the metal of their chassis conducted the electricity right to their circuitry. The electricity burned out the circuitry, filling the air with a foul smoky smell.

With the help of Tenchi's harem, the robots fell to the State assault one by one. All that's left was the factory, a silvery building made entirely out of metal. It was quite out of place, being too technologically advanced compared to the rest of the region. Tenchi's harem and the state soldiers poured into the factory. As they stormed the building, they downed robots at each step of the way. They cleared out each room from the assembly line to the offices and captured the building. Despite a thorough search, Washu was nowhere inside.

Mihoshi entered Washu's main office. Washu wasn't in, so she decided to sit on the desk and relax. She played with a pen in its holder and somehow caused something to stir behind a bookshelf. A hidden door rumbled open. She pulled the shelf out of the way and found a hidden computer in the room behind the wall. Beside it was a circular platform with an open portal to some unknown dimension.

Mihoshi told the others about the secret room in Washu's office. The filed in and examined the area. "Hmm, she must have fled in here before we took over the building," remarked Tenchi.

"Let's go in and get her," said Ryoko. "We're hot on her tail!"

"We should get some rest right now," said Al. "Weve been fighting for several hours. I'm sure we're all very tired now. Let's wait until tomorrow before we go chasing off after her."

"Yes, we should make sure this isn't a trap," said Hughes. "For now, get some rest. There's no telling what's waiting for you on the other side."

* * *

The next day Ed and Al woke up in their room in East City. Normally, it would be another routine day at work, resolving various disputes among civilians. However, strange mechanical humanoids, like highly advanced Automail constructs, had recently been sighted in the desert. Although non-hostile at first, that quickly changed when the robots began raids into various cities in the region near East City and Lior.

These war machines were armed with weapons the State had yet to even think of developing. Their weapons fired bolts of crimson energy instead of conventional bullets. Being machines, they were quite well armoured and bullets only had a modest impact on their chassis. Nevertheless, the State was still able to fend off these monstrosities by using alchemy to turn terrain against them or disrupt their circuitry and control systems.

Ed's Automail prosthetic limbs had been damaged during one of his altercations with such robots. With Al's help, he limped to a lounge in a State military barracks and found his friend, Winry waiting for him. Unlike her cheerful usual self, Winry seemed more pensive and ponderous this day. "Hi Ed, is it just me or does this all feel like deja vu?"

"What do you mean?" asked Ed.

"I mean exactly that," replied Winry. "Al helped you get to the barracks because your Automail had been damaged while fighting robots. I came over to repair it, we met Tenchi and the others, and you went to shut down a factory. When I woke up, I was in East City, but we went to Lior to sleep for the night."

"Come to think of it, something does feel strange. If I remember correctly, you were going to see Col. Mustang after Winry made your repairs," said Al.

"Yeah, I see now," said Ed. "I remember meeting Mustang the day before. If you're right, than he'll want to talk to me about going to Lior."

Winry made the repairs like before, but finished sooner than expected since she already knew what to do. Ed went to the briefing by his commanding officer. "Hello Elric, we've just received hot new information on those robot attacks."

Col. Mustang showed Ed a picture of a lone girl with spiky pink hair among the robots. She had the mark of a silver gear on her forehead. "Didn't you show me this picture yesterday?" asked Ed.

"I don't think so. We only got this picture today. We never even met yesterday," said Mustang.

"Hmm, I suppose you want me to go to Lior and talk to Col. Hughes about this woman. You want me to capture her, is that right?" asked Ed.

"Why yes, that's exactly why I called you here," said Mustang. "If you already know this much, then please take this photo and begin your mission immediately."

"Yes sir," said Ed.

Ed greeted his friends. "So, what did the Colonel say?" asked Al.

"Same thing as yesterday, talk to Col. Hughes in Lior and capture Washu Hakubi," replied Ed. "Just like last time."

"Let's go to the hotel. If I'm right, we should meet 'them' there," said Winry.

The group made their way to a hotel in the company of several grocery stands. Just like last time, Tenchi's harem was waiting for them there. Ryoko and Aeka were fighting again, while the others stayed away tried to calm the two down. Sasami looked over and saw Ed coming along the street. "Hey Ed, over here!" called Sasami.

"Hi Sasami, listen, is it just me, or does it seem like we've done this before?" asked Ed.

"Yeah," said Sasami. "Ryoko and Aeka started fighting the same way they did the day before."

"You know, it feels like we're reliving yesterday again today," said Mihoshi.

"There's only one way to be sure," said Al. "Ed, you have to talk to Col. Hughes again."

After getting Ryoko and Aeka to calm down, they headed to Lior to visit the Colonel. As before Ed split away to speak to Hughes privately. "Oh hi Ed, how have ya been?" asked Hughes.

"Quite fine, thank you," said Ed.

"Oh yeah, I'll feeling good. I just saw my little girl off to kindergarten for the first time. She'll be a doctor or a State alchemist one day," said Hughes. "...But enough about me. I believe you have a reason for visiting..."

"Of course," said Ed, who told him about Mustang's orders and the photo.

"Ah, I see. Those things have been giving us quite a hard time, but we might have their number now. We've just found what appears to be a factory out in the middle of the desert to the northeast of Lior. We're sending men to scout the area, but it's been difficult since the place is heavily guarded. Nevertheless, we're making steady progress. In the meantime, we're mobilizing troops for an attack. You'll be participating in this attack, Ed."

"I know how to attack the factor. You can send the troops over today," said Ed.

"What makes you say that?" asked Hughes.

"Trust me Colonel; I know what I'm doing. Also, I have invited some outsiders to join us on the attack," said Ed.

"Outsiders? Who are these people?" asked Hughes.

"Trust me on this one too, Colonel," said Ed. "They will be a great help. Please mobilize the military as soon as possible."

"You seem very confident about your plan. I'll go along with it for now," said Hughes.

Like before the State military mobilized into the desert. They encountered the robots and the two sides exchanged fire. This time, Ed was ready for them. With the help of several State alchemists, they transmuted the sand into several spikes of stone. These spikes skewered the robots. The State military's victory was swift and merciless in light of Ed's new tactics. Though a few dozen were wounded, not a single serviceman died in the line of duty.

The military stormed the factory quickly and mercilessly. They took it over with nearly no effort and quickly began securing to the area. Even after the storming, not a single man died, although a few more had been wounded. Hughes scanned the secured factory room by room, pleased with Ed's tactics and suggestions. He met Ed and the others in Washu's office where, they were examining the secret room behind the bookshelf.

"Ed, that was incredible! We took over this whole place without a single fatality in our forces. Well done!" said Hughes. "It's almost like you knew exactly what the enemy was thinking, right down the smallest detail."

"Well, what can I say? I'm glad we were able to take it without anyone having to die," said Ed.

The day ended and Ed went to bed in a barracks in Lior. The day after he woke up in his bed in East City instead. "Not again!" remarked Ed.

"This time, I know we went to bed in Lior. How can we be back in East City?" asked Al.

"There's no doubt about it. We really are repeating the same day again," said Ed.

He tried to leave bed, but his damaged Automail made it difficult. Al propped him up and helped him get to the East City barracks where Winry would be waiting for him. Like before, he met the girl in the lounge and she began to repair his Automail. "This is the third time I've had to do this," remarked Winry. "At least I'm getting good at this." Winry made the final adjustments and resealed the Automail compartments. "There, that should be it, at least until tomorrow."

"Well, I'd better meet Mustang again. I'll see you in a little bit," said Ed.

He met Mustang and received his orders like before. Before boarding the train, he fetched Tenchi's harem and travelled to Lior. They met Hughes again, who started the meeting by talking about how his daughter had started kindergarten. As before, Ed recommended strategies and tactics which the military followed in the ensuing battle. Unlike last time, Ed and companions declined to participate in battle. Rather, they wanted to find what was causing the day to continuously repeat.

Ryo-Ohki transformed into a spiked black-brown space-ship. The group entered and scanned the area for temporal anomalies. "Ryo-Ohki detects a temporal anomaly centred around Lior City. It extends into the desert all the way to East City," said Ryoko.

Ryoko fine-tuned the scan to get a closer look at the source's location in Lior. The anomaly seemed to originate from a certain church in the heart of Lior. Al looked over the area from the overhead view. "Isn't that Father Cornello's church?" asked Al.

"Yeah, just our luck to find it there of all places," said Ed.

The group appeared in front of the grand granite building, a temple. Before it was a statue of the sun god, Leto, a muscular old man in a toga and a jagged crown which symbolized the sun. "It's inside, let's go," said Ryoko.

The group searched the temple from top to bottom, but were unable to find anything at first. Eventually, Sasami saw something strange in the basement. It was in one of the temple stock rooms. She had found an old clock with what appeared to be a mark resembling a pendulum on it. The mark glowed with an eldritch golden light. When the others arrived, they examined the clock. "This must be what's causing the whole day to repeat," said Tenchi.

"What is this thing?" asked Ryoko, reaching for the clock.

"Don't touch that clock!" cried someone running down the hall.

It was too late. Ryoko had already picked up the clock. Her action triggered something into happening, causing everything to go white. The next day, Ed woke up in his bed in East City. "Not again!" said Ed. "I'm getting tired of this. Give me a break!"

Once again, Ed repeated the events of the day from meeting Mustang and Tenchi's harem to planning the attack on Washu's factory. Like before, Ed merely gave Hughes tactical plans in writing, along with diagrams, so he could lead the attack in Ed's place. The group retraced their steps to the Temple of Leto in Lior. Just as they reached the door outside of the storage room, another person was coming down the hall from the opposite direction.

He was foreign to the region and seemed out of place. The person was a black-haired Japanese boy in his mid-teens. He was dressed in set of black robes with emblems like the sun and the crescent moon. From his dress, he appeared to be a wizard of some kind. Perhaps he knew what was going on? "Were you the one who told us not to touch the clock?" asked Tenchi.

"Yeah, that was me," replied the boy. "That clock had called the Pendulum Rune, or the Rune of Time. It was causing the whole day to keep on repeating."

"Rune of Time?" asked Ryoko. "What the hell is that?"

"The Rune is a representation of time. Hmm... I guess it's best to think of it as a force of nature," replied the boy.

"A force of nature? Like a storm?" asked Aeka.

"Sort of... Basically what I'm saying is that it's a natural part of the world. It is an important part of the universe that's just there," said the boy.

"Just who are you?" asked Ryoko. "How do you know all this stuff?"

"I'm Tory Avalon, a Cardcaptor," replied the boy. "To make a long story short, we discovered the vault where this Rune and its 26 cousins were locked up. When we got there, the Runes were already gone. We know they were a danger, so we went out to get them back."

"Hold on, you're telling me that there are 26 other things like it?" asked Ryoko.

"26 others, yeah, but each is a different force of nature," said Tory. "I'm going to capture the Pendulum Rune and return it back to the vault."

He entered the stock room. Tenchi's harem followed and watched as he produced a strange translucent capsule made from what seemed like aquamarine plastic. He pressed this capsule over the Pendulum Rune. The capsule swallowed the Rune and held it safely within its confines. The Pendulum Rune glowed with the same eldritch golden light as it did when it reset the day.

"That takes care of that," said Tory.

Before he left, Ed stopped him. "Wait!" said Ed, who showed him the picture of Washu leading the war machines. "Is it possible that one of these Runes is on her?"

Tory looked over the picture. "Yes, it's very likely. Who is she and what did she do?" asked Tory. He learned the story from Ed and Tenchi, who told him about how Washu led the robot attacks.

"So, is it possible?" asked Ed.

"Very," replied Tory. "Listen, you'll need me to capture that thing. Where's Washu right now?"

"She's hiding in her lab."

** END OF CHAPTER**

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** SPOTLIGHT: Shamballa (Fullmetal Alchemist) **

Politics/Demographics:  
Shamballa's greatest nation is Amestris, currently ruled by a military dictatorship under King Bradley. The Amestrian people are Germanic and have a culture similar to pre-World War 1 Germany with some changes due to the existence of alchemy. Despite being a dictatorship, there are reforms being made to move Amestris to a more democratic way of government.

Characters/VIPs:  
The major players from Shamballa are the two Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, who are both powerful and knowledgeable alchemists. Their neighbour and friend, Winry Rockbell, travels with the brothers to maintain Ed's Automail prosthetics.

Powers:  
Shamballan alchemy is powered by the souls of the dead from a pre-World War Two version of Earth. As such it is magical in nature, though studied and researched enough to have a science surrounding it. The alchemist needs a special emblem, a transmutation circle, in order to perform alchemy. Alchemy works by reforming a substance and/or changing it to another form, and can do so in real time, right in the heat of battle.

Shamballa also has science as we know it. Their level of technology is similar to that of Germany's before the first World War. However, their greatest advances came in materials sciences, by using alchemy to create new materials. Shamballa's second field of note is in prosthetics. It has Automail, which are mechanical prosthetics attached directly to the nerves.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Pendulum Rune/Time Rune **  
Domain: Time, Causality, Fate  
Duality: Past vs. Future  
Appearance: Golden clock's pendulum  
Powers: Grants holder control over time

Description:  
This True Rune governs the passage of time. This Rune governs the past and the future through the chains of fate and causality. The future becomes the present and then the past, but that which has passed influences the future, ensuring causality and creating fate. This Rune grants its holder the ability to manipulate time and travel through it. Despite this Rune's great power, the more you try to change history, the more things stay the same.


	5. Horror Story 2: Life and Death

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Bleach by Tite Kubo makes its debut in this chapter.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.

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**The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 **

**Horror Story, part 2: Life and Death **

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"Where are we?" asked Pazu.

He found himself in the middle of a medieval city on a world far from New Port City. The buildings were homes and stores painted white and blue. Many were covered in dirt, as though they had been dug out of the ground recently. Several men and women worked in these buildings, but they weren't shopkeepers. Rather, they archaeologists digging out ancient relics from this lost city.

"You're at an archaeological dig in Crystal Valley of Harmonia," replied Meilin.

"Well, looks like we owe you kids one," said Batou. "If you were any later, we'd be dead now."

"You're welcome," said Meilin.

"You kids seem to know a lot about what's been going on back there. I think it's time you told us everything, right from the beginning," said Kusanagi.

"Yeah, I agree, but would you really believe us?" asked Shaoran.

"After being nearly being swarmed by those things, I'm willing to believe anything now," said Batou.

"Well, where should we start?" asked Shaoran.

"How about you tell us what those things were?" asked Batou.

"They're demons, but they used to be ordinary humans before taking too much a drug called 7 Sins," replied Meilin.

"We suspected something to that effect," admitted Kusanagi. "All of the incidents with those beasts involved 7 Sins."

"We had some of that stuff tested and it turned out to be a mix of plain old drugs. You can buy all of that stuff from any old dealer off the street," said Batou. "...But there was one ingredient that stumped the lab."

"You must mean the slivers of the Sevenfold Rune," said Shaoran.

"The what?" asked Kusanagi.

Despite Section 9's unfamiliarity with the supernatural, the two Cardcaptors tried to explain what the 27 True Runes were. "The best way is to think of them as forces of nature," suggested Shaoran.

"Yeah, like the weather and gravity," said Meilin.

"...And there are 27 of these Rune-thingies out there?" asked Batou incredulously.

"Yep," replied Meilin. "Each represents something different."

"The one you were unlucky enough to deal with is the Sevenfold Rune. It's the Rune of virtue and sin," said Shaoran.

"How can this Rune represent both things at the same time?" asked Pazu.

"All Runes have dual natures. The Sevenfold Rune's is transcendence versus nihilism," replied Shaoran. "The Rune's holder has transcended the world's suffering, but looks down on the inferior people and decides to wipe them out for their own good."

"No kidding," remarked Batou.

"That's why we have to stop it," said Meilin. "We have to find out who has the Rune and reseal it before it does any more damage."

"How many of those things have you found?" asked Kusanagi.

"Hmm... We have the Rune of Beginning, the Gate Rune, and the Pendulum Rune... That's three there," replied Shaoran. "We're going to check in and see if they've found anymore Runes."

"Yeah, in the meantime, take a look around. You might be staying here for awhile," said Meilin.

After Shaoran and Meilin left, the Section 9 survivors stayed behind to ponder their next move. Kusanagi was deep in thought about what she had learned from Shaoran and Meilin. "What's on your mind?" asked Batou.

"It's about what the kids told us, about people becoming demons after taking 7 Sins. The perps knew we were coming. They have gotten to someone in the police force," replied Kusanagi.

"Damn you're right," said Batou. "I hadn't thought of that possibility."

"If you think about it, that's the only explanation," said Pazu. "Whoever this mole is, he's tipping off the 7 Fold gang. Both drug raids ended in fiascos. The crooks knew exactly when we were coming and how."

Meanwhile, the two young Clow Magicians spoke with Clow Reed about the Runes. Shaoran and Meilin entered Clow Reed's room and found him translating yet more Harmonia texts. "Oh hi, did you get any Runes?" asked Reed looking up from his books.

"Sorry no, we got kind of sidetracked," said Shaoran. "It was getting too dangerous over in Cyberia so we had to bail out."

"Well, we'll try again when things calm down. I do have some good news. I just discovered the location of another Rune," announced Reed.

"Where?" asked Meilin.

"Karakura Town in Souland," replied Reed. "The Rune is the Soul Eater. It's a dark, cursed Rune like the Sevenfold Rune, so be careful with this one."

The place known as Souland was the world of the Bleach anime. It was a world with a hidden but highly significant afterlife world. In this world, psychopomps called "Soul Reapers" guided lost souls to the afterlife world called the "Soul Society." This was necessary because hollows, murderous corrupted souls, fed on these lost souls, turning them into new hollows. Soul Reapers exterminated these dangerous creatures to ensure that they did not become a threat.

"Since hollows eat souls as well, the Soul Eater Rune might have attached itself to one of these creatures to gain access to its body. If so, it could have amassed a large army of followers by now," said Reed. "Be careful as you search for this Rune."

"Of course, Master Reed. We're going now," said Meilin.

Shaoran summoned the Through Card, which created a shimmering doorway of white light between the anime worlds. Upon stepping through, they found themselves in an unfamiliar part of Tokyo City, the version that belonged to Souland. The town seemed quite peaceful as the people went about their daily chores and routines in the afternoon. It didn't seem like such a place would attract the monstrous hollows, but looks could be deceiving.

* * *

It was another day at high school in Karakura Town for one Ichigo Kurosaki. The bold, bleached hair teenager lazily took notes as the teacher droned on and on about mathematical equations. After several minutes of this, it was a relief when it ended. The students started to leave and Ichigo slung his backpack onto his shoulders. On his way out, he bumped into his friends, Keigo, a teenaged boy with pale brown hair that belled outward at the ends and Mizuiro, a boyish teenager with black hair.

"Hey Ichigo, going to do that Soul Reaper thing again today?" asked Keigo.

"Yeah, that Rukia is a slave driver," remarked Ichigo.

A third teenager entered the scene. Unlike Ichigo and his two friends, this third one was Mexican with brown skin and bangs of curly dark brown hair which covered his eyes. This muscular brute towered over Ichigo and the others. Despite his intimidating appearance, this teenager was quite calm and composed. He didn't seem threatening at all, despite his great size compared to the Japanese students of the school. His name was Yasutora Sado, known simply as "Chad."

"Hi Chad, you ready for this afternoon?" asked Ichigo.

"Sure," he replied. "There have been lots of hollows lately. I can't let them hurt anyone."

Several other students from Ichigo's circle of friends joined him in the hallway. The first was a petite, black-haired Japanese girl in her mid-teens. The attractive girl was Rukia Kuchiki, the one who organized the afternoon's hunting mission. The next girl had orangey hair and an especially buxom body. She was Orihime Inoue, the happy go-lucky girl without a care in the world. Her more tomboyish friend was Tatsuki.

"Hey, looks like the rest of the gang has showed up," said Mizuiro.

"Hi Ichigo," said Tatsuki.

"Hi!" said Orihime.

"Where's Uryu? We have to go soon. We can't wait for him forever!" said Ichigo.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," said a bespectacled, but haughty teenaged boy.

"Good. Now that's everyone's here, we can go now," said Rukia.

Ichigo activated an object hidden underneath his shirt. The medallion-like object was in truth a deputy Soul Reaper badge. Through its supernatural power, it separated Ichigo's spirit from his body. His spirit was now dressed in the black robes of the psychopomp known as the Soul Reaper. His garb was traditional Japanese with a skirt-like hakama. His weapon, the zanpakuto, or sword, known as Zangetsu was firmly in his right hand.

Tatsuki and Keigo rested Ichigo's limp physical body on their shoulders and took it away. His hollow hunting companions left the school for the site where the hollow was spotted by Soul Society monitors. The hollow was attacking a commercial district filled with shops and boutiques. The hollow itself was merely a blob of darkness with vaguely defined arms and hands. Its face was covered by a mask with the likeness of a human skull.

Unusually for a hollow, its skull mask had a small bump or mound with a mark on it. This mark was an image of the Grim Reaper, brandishing his scythe in the air. The towering hollow was invisible to those without any supernatural powers of their own. No one noticed it once it cut down an innocent, unaware bystander with in a single, lethal swipe. Trails of white life energy seeped out of its body and flowed into the mound in the skull mask.

"What's it doing?" asked Orihime.

"It's taking his soul, just like the last time," observed Chad.

"Who cares, let's just take that thing out!" said Ichigo, not interested in discussion.

"For once I agree," said Uryu, summoning a bow of blue light and preparing an arrow.

Uryu, as a member of the Quincy clan, came from venerable lineage of humans who hunted hollows. They had the unique ability to manifest spirit particles in the form of a bow and shoot it out as arrows. Uryu used his clan's power to unleash such an arrow. The hollow sensed the attack coming. The hollow raised its hand defensively, causing the arrow to impale into the back of it. The arrow soon dissipated into nothingness.

In retaliation, the hollow expelled a ki beam from its mouth. Orihime summoned the Six Princess Shielding Flowers to her defence. They created the three fairy shield, a downward pointing triangular barrier of golden light. The beam struck and was blunted by its power. Chad moved in and called the Right Arm of the Giant to him. His arm became like a hollow's, but with a red stripe along its length. From it, he fired a beam of golden spiritual energy.

The hollow tilted his head out of the way at the last moment, saving it from being blown off. Ichigo and Rukia ran in. The hollow clawed Ichigo, who sidestepped with great speed and resumed his charge. Rukia attacked with her zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki. Its icy touch frosted the hollow painfully, inciting a retaliatory claw swipe. However, Rukia rolled out of the way.

The hollow swung Ichigo, forcing him to retreat and regroup with his friends. "This one's a tough one," said Ichigo.

"We can take him. Hold the line and keep the pressure on it," said Rukia.

Orihime hurled the single fairy shield. The hollow attempted to move away, but got grazed on the cheek. Though the damage was minimal, this wound provided a much needed opening. Uryu fired another arrow, impaling the hollow in the shoulder. A split second later, Chad's ki beam blew off its other arm. Ichigo pounced on the creature and drove his blade deep into the creature's skull. As he descended, he cut through the hollow, peeling it in half. The creature crumbled and vanished into nothingness.

"That takes care of that one," remarked Ichigo.

"Look! There's something going on there!" cried Orihime.

Orihime pointed at a second, similar hollow wandering the streets of Karakura. The group rushed to check and found that creature in battle with a pair of children, Shaoran and Meilin. Shaoran summoned the Storm Card, conjuring a fierce tornado around the hollow, trapping it within. The hollow struggled to move in the fierce winds, but it efforts only kept it from being sucked into the sky.

To finish it off, Meilin summoned a Clow Card of her own creation, the Boom Card. True to its name, it depicted an explosion as a jagged red, bursting flame. Created as an advancement test, she would use it to show the hollow how far she had progressed as a magician. With it, she had created a small flame near the hollow. A split-second later, it exploded with devastating force. It annihilated the hollow instantly, leaving no traces of it behind.

"The Rune has control over some hollows," said Meilin.

"Yeah, I hope we can find the bearer this time," said Shaoran. "That Sevenfold Rune was a pain and we still couldn't find out who had it."

"Did those kids just drop a hollow?" asked Ichigo.

Orihime pointed at Meilin. "Oh, she must be a magical girl! By day, she's a normal girl who goes to school, but at night, she puts on a sailor uniform and fights monsters with the power of love!"

Rukia grimaced at that thought. "Where do you get these ideas? I doubt she's a character from an anime show."

"Hey, we're all anime characters, or have you forgotten?" asked Uryu.

"Ugh, you know what I mean," said Rukia.

"Whoever she is, I'm going to find out what they're doing here," said Ichigo. "Hey you two!" Shaoran and Meilin turned to face Ichigo. "Yeah you, this place is dangerous! What are you doing here?"

"We're looking for something," replied Shaoran.

"Like what?" asked Ichigo.

"We're here to find out whoever is controlling these hollows," said Meilin.

"So, you're here to fight hollows?" asked Rukia. "That's good. We're here to do the same thing."

"Hmm... Maybe we can help each other," said Meilin. "I'm Meilin Rae and he's Shaoran Li. We're magicians. Who are you?"

"We're Soul Reapers. We hunt hollows, but these ones aren't like the ones we normally fight. Instead of eating souls, they suck them into a bump on the head," said Rukia. "That bump has a mark on it which looks like the Grim Reaper."

"Yeah, that mark is known as the Soul Eater Rune," said Shaoran.

"Soul Eater Rune?" asked Uryu.

"Yeah, or a piece of it. It's controlling these things, making them attack people," replied Meilin. "If the hollows aren't eating, then they must be collecting souls to feed the Rune. That bump on their foreheads must be some kind of 'soul storage' organ."

"So you're saying that this Rune thingy is using the hollows to collect souls for food?" asked Ichigo.

"Yeah, pretty much," said Shaoran.

Rukia suddenly received a phone call from the Soul Society. "I'm here," she replied. The speaker continued and her eyes widened as he talked to her. "WHAT?" The speaker responded with a very alarmed, but garbled series of words. "What do they look like?" The speaker gave another garbled answer. "Okay, we'll be there soon."

"Was that the Soul Society?" asked Orihime.

"Yeah, there are hollows attacking the Soul Society!" replied Rukia.

"What? The Soul Society?" asked Uryu.

"Yeah, thousands of them, all like the ones we were fighting. They just breached the outer gate of the 70th District. The Soul Society has issued a call for all Soul Reapers to help with defence. We've been recalled too."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Ichigo.

"You guys come too," said Rukia, of Shaoran and Meilin.

"Even if you didn't ask, we'd insist anyways," admitted Meilin. "This isn't what you're used to dealing with."

The Soul Reapers brought the Cardcaptors to a quaint, unassuming wooden shop somewhere in a quiet neighbourhood of Karakura. The owner of the shop was a blond-haired man in wooden clogs and a bucket hat with green and white stripes. This man was Kisuke Urahara, former Soul Reaper, and a vendor of spiritual items and knickknacks. He was also an important contact for Rukia's group in spiritual matters.

"Urahara, we need to get to the Soul Society as soon as possible," stated Rukia upon entry into his shop.

"What, you're not going to ask me how my day was or introduce me to your friends?" asked Urahara.

"It's an emergency!" said Rukia. "The Soul Society is under attack by..."

"Yeah I know, I know. I've already gotten the equipment ready. Just don't leave me out of the fun," said Urahara.

"You're coming too?" asked Ichigo.

"Is there an echo or something here?" asked Urahara rhetorically. "Of course I'm coming. It's not everyday that there's a hollow invasion on the Soul Society. They want everyone to return and that includes me."

"Don't forget about me," said a woman emerging from the back of the store.

The woman was a violet-haired beauty in her early twenties. She had skin like coffee and was dressed in loose, comfortable clothes. From her manner of dress, she was like a ninja. "You too, Yoruichi?" asked Uryu.

"Yep, they want everyone, even us exiles," said Yoruichi. "So, who are your new friends? I can sense great spiritual power from them."

"It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way to there," said Rukia.

Urahara prepared a strange item which resembled a miniature slab of stone designed to look like a doorway. It enlarged itself to become as big a normal doorway which led to a dark tunnel. At the other end was what appeared to be a town, the Soul Society. Urahara snapped his fingers and was suddenly dressed in the black garb of a Soul Reaper. "...And away we go," said Urahara.

After running through the black, inter-dimensional void, the group found themselves in the middle of a town with the trappings of one from Feudal Japan. The buildings were shingled, shabby abodes made of wood, especially in the poorer areas of town. They were fairly crude, run down, and dirty. The nicer parts of town, on the other hand, had buildings that were made of white stone. They reflected the beauty and wealth of those regions, the highest of the Soul Society.

"Well, we're here, tell me about the new guys," said Yoruichi.

"We found those kids while fighting Hollows in Karakura. They say they're magicians. They seem to know a lot more than we do about these things," said Ichigo.

At that moment, another Soul Reaper approached them. "Well, I figured you guys would show up sooner or later," remarked that Soul Reaper.

The man, dressed in standard Soul Reaper attire, had a cocky look and aura about him. He wore a headband and had red hair tied back. Interestingly, the man had black tribal tattoos all over his body, including his forehead. The man was carrying a sword, a Soul Reaper's zanpakuto, which was oddly rectangular in shape with spikes along key points on the segmented blade. The Soul Reaper team was happy to see such a familiar face.

"Renji! Fancy meeting you here," remarked Ichigo.

"Well, Ichigo, looks like we're playing on the same team today. I'd like to see just how strong you've gotten since our last meeting," said Renji.

"Are you coming with us?" asked Rukia.

"Yeah, the captain loaned me out to you guys for this one. We're unofficially Squad 14 and I'm the captain. Our job is to find the head hollow and take him out," said Renji. "So, who are these two kids?"

"They're Shaoran and Meilin," replied Rukia. "We found them fighting a hollow in the human world. They're magicians and know a lot about these new hollows."

"Do they?" asked Renji rhetorically.

"Yep, the leader has a special thing called the Soul Eater Rune. You'll need us to seal that thing," said Meilin. "Otherwise, the Rune will escape and look for a new host."

"Okay, we're spending too much time babbling here. Time for some action!" said Renji.

"Now that's a first! We actually agree on something!" said Ichigo.

The group followed Renji's directions to the front lines, which were in the poorest, dirtiest areas of the Soul Society. Several Soul Reaper lookouts were on the wall which marked the threshold of the battlefield and the safer areas behind Soul Reaper lines. They spotted a group of these creatures approaching and prepared to greet them. Archers on the wall fired arrows into the enemy, picking off several as they charged forward like a stampede of elephants.

However, the archers were not enough to completely stem the tide. Soul Reaper warriors dropped to the ground and met those survivors in a chaotic melee. Bolts of energy went back and forth from the two sides. A Soul Reaper cleaved a hollow's mask, cutting this vital organ in half. Without it, the hollow withered away to nothingness. The Soul Reapers vanquished the others with similar ease and returned to their vigil on the wall. The enemy would return again.

Renji approached one of the guards. "Hi, we're the 14th Squad. We're here as reinforcements for the front," announced Renji.

"Yeah, we're received word that some hollows attacked the peddler's street. You're needed there," said the guard.

"Okay thanks," said Renji.

He led them over to the street mentioned by the guard. Just before the group even approached that location, they could see Soul Reapers engaged with a giant hollow. This evil spirit had a skull mask almost like that of a bird's. The rest of its body was essentially a giant blob with tendril-like arms for mechanical manipulation and slapping weaponry. The hollow lashed at the Soul Reapers, knocking several onto the ground.

Shaoran immediately invoked the Freeze Card. A trail of ice raced along the ground. It reached the creature and encased it in a shell of glistening ice. The hollow was frozen solid, unable to move anymore. Renji closed in and lashed the zanpakuto, Zabimaru, at the monster. The blade extended into a segmented, whip-like structure which coiled around the hollow. With a tug, he dug the blades into the hollow, shattering into countless pieces.

"Thanks!" said a Soul Reaper.

"Do you know where the big boss is?" asked Rukia.

"I don't know if it's true, but I've been hearing reports of a vasto lorde leading this attack. It's hiding out far to the east, behind the enemy line."

"Whoa, a vasto lorde?" asked Yoruichi.

"Vasto lorde? What's so scary about some hollow?" asked Ichigo.

"Are you kidding?" countered Rukia. "Vasto lordes are the most powerful type of hollow there are! They are as powerful as a Soul Reaper squad captain, maybe even more."

"This lord hollow must be the one with the Rune," said Shaoran.

"We can extract the Rune, but that monster will not let us without putting up a fight," said Meilin.

"Eh, it can put up all the fight it wants. I love a good fight," said Ichigo.

"They won't stop attacking unless we defeat the leader, so it's not like we have much of a choice anyways," said Uryu.

The team continued on until they came upon a congregation of Soul Reaper soldiers. They had just downed a hollow and were holding this area to allow other Soul Reapers to move about freely. They were based out of a tea house which had had its roof torn off from the fighting. Several Soul Reapers were wounded on the ground and being tending to by the medics of the 4th Division.

Among the Soul Reapers congregating there was one particularly young Soul Reaper. The young man had silvery white hair and green eyes filled with determination. From the markings on his uniform and the white overcoat, he was a Soul Reaper captain. In fact, he was the captain for the 10th Division of the 13 Court Guard Squads. Due to his position, all of the Soul Society members of the team knew who he was. His name was Toshiro Hitsugaya.

Toshiro broke off from a conversation with some underlings upon seeing Rukia and Renji's approach. "Ah, so you must be our reinforcements," observed Toshiro.

A buxom Soul Reaper looked over the group. "Look who decided to show up as our reinforcements... Why, none other than former 12th Division Captain Kisuke Urahara and the Flash Master, Yoruichi Shihoin..." said the woman, Rangiku Matsumoto. "We've got a pair of cute kids."

"Those kids helped us reach this point," said Rukia.

"Where's the vasto lorde right now?" asked Uryu.

"It's just a few kilometres to the south," replied Toshiro. "It's directing the hollows from the ruins of a commoner's house. We're going to launch an assault against the area in a few hours. You're to join us in this attack."

"I request that you send us against the vasto lorde," requested Renji.

"You'll need us to beat it. The hollow has a dangerous source of power which controls it. We're the only ones who can contain it," said Shaoran.

Shaoran described the Soul Eater Rune to Captain Hitsugaya. "I see, let me consult with the strategists about this. In the meantime please make yourselves comfortable," said Toshiro. He left to make his consultation, but returned shortly afterwards. "...Because of your information, the strategists changed our plans. They want to send your team to face the vasto lorde. Our main assault will draw the enemy away," said Toshiro. "I sure hope you guys know what you're doing..."

"Don't worry, we have a plan," said Shaoran. "We'll stop the hollow."

The team of the Cardcaptors and Soul Reapers followed Toshiro's directions to a secret hiding spot just south of where the hollows had made their line. It was a simple dilapidated shack in the slums. At this point they were behind enemy lines and in hostile territory. After waiting for some time, the group heard word of the Soul Reaper attack by Captain Hitsugaya. In the distance, they could see explosions and towering hollows fighting the Soul Reapers.

The security noticeably thinned out in order to provide troops to counter the Soul Reaper assault. Renji ran back into the shack. "Okay, time to move out!"

The team emerged from the shack and descended upon the vasto lorde and its retinue. Unlike the others, the hollow leader was remarkably human in shape and appearance. He was pale skinned and wore a suit of spiky plate armour. On its face was a mask that resembled a skull. On its forehead was an emblem which resembled a small brown Grim Reaper. This emblem was the cursed Soul Eater Rune, the Rune of Life and Death.

"There it is, the Soul Eater!" informed Meilin.

"It is a cursed Rune, be careful!" warned Shaoran.

Renji entered the battle first and swung his zanpakuto, Zabimaru, at a hollow body guard. The blade suddenly lashed out like a whip, digging small razor blades into the hollow's flesh. It tore the hollow to pieces, causing it to crumble and vanish. Yoruichi unleashed a kido spell, a beam of crimson energy. It tore into and blew its victim apart. By now, the vasto lorde realized it was being targeted.

More hollows descended upon the group as other members of the leader's retinue broke off to attack. The vasto lorde followed them into the fray. The creature fired a beam of energy at Ichigo, who cut his way through it to blunt the attack. The vasto lorde jumped onto a roof to get space, which Ichigo followed by leaping onto the roof of a neighbouring store. The creature created a makeshift sword from its spikes and parried Ichigo's strike.

As the two fought, the vasto lorde invoked the cursed power of the Soul Eater. Though outnumbered in the early moments of the battle, his forces were joined by the rising of the undead from the ground. Hollows resembling zombies and skeletons emerged from Soul Society soil, many of which were armed with Japanese armour and implements of war. One of these skeletal Samurai swung at Rukia, forcing her to parry with Shirayuki.

More hollows emerged from the ground. An archer unloaded arrows upon Meilin, who raised the Shield Card to block them. She then invoked the Firey Card, conjuring a pillar of flame which incinerated the zombie archer. Nearby, the hollows forced Rukia back, even as she swung at them to drive them away. When she got distance, she used Shirayuki to fling a torrent of ice upon her foes. They were all frozen instantly in blocks of ice.

"Ichigo's on the roofs with the vasto lorde," remarked Meilin as she joined Rukia. She pointed to the Soul Reaper as he fought the vasto lorde.

The monster made a swipe at Ichigo, forcing him to back off to avoid harm. Suddenly, the ground underneath it turned to sand. The sand shifted, pulling the creature's feet from under him. It fell onto his back and tumbled off of the roof of the shingled house. Shaoran, the one responsible, pulled up beside Ichigo to join his battle. "If you can stun him for awhile, I can remove the Rune and end the fight instantly," said Shaoran.

"Easier said than done," quipped Ichigo. "This guy's a pain in the ass. No matter what I throw at him, he keeps coming back."

"Ichigo," addressed Rukia, as she and Meilin joined Ichigo and Shaoran on the roof.

"Let Shaoran and I concentrate on extracting the Rune," said Meilin. "You and Rukia can focus on keeping the vasto lorde off balance."

"Okay, we'll keep it pinned down," said Rukia. "Just be ready on your end."

On the ground, the vasto lorde got to its feet after a brief, minimal effort struggle. The creature leapt back onto the roof of a constabulary. Ichigo and Rukia met the creature and prepared for a sword battle. The vasto lorde formed a pair of spikes to use as swords, one for each of its hands. Ichigo struck first, swinging Zangetsu at the hollow's mask. The hollow parried. Rukia slashed with Shirayuki, which it parried as well.

The vasto lorde forced both of them away, separating them by a few feet. Rukia hurled a blast of Shirayuki's ice, which the hollow countered by flinging a blast of negative energy. Ichigo used this opportunity to flash step behind the hollow. He lunged at the creature's head, but was parried by a blind block backwards. The vasto lorde quickly twirled into a decapitating slash, forcing Ichigo to block this counter. The creature fired negative energy point-blank, knocking him off of the roof.

Meilin conjured the Fiery Card at the creature's feet. Instead of burning the creature, it put a hole into the building's roof which the vasto lorde fell into. However, the creature quickly jumped back out, no worse for wear. Ichigo returned and charged in with a trio of slashes, each of which the vasto lorde parried. Ichigo made a fourth, aiming low at the legs. The creature leapt into the air to evade the blow.

However, Rukia was waiting for the vasto lorde at its destination. "Dance, Shirayuki!" commanded Rukia.

A wave of ice radiated upwards in a circle around her. When the vasto lorde landed, Rukia's ice froze his feet into a single mass of ice. It nearly lost its balance and tipped over. Seeing her chance, Rukia approached, but the vasto lorde continued to swipe at her. Rukia parried two attacks before the creature attempted to come in overhead. Rukia parried, but the creature readied a negative energy ball in the other hand and hurled it into her chest. She crashed onto the roof and rolled off onto the ground.

Just as the creature freed its legs, Ichigo hurled Zangetsu into the hollow's face. The blade plunged through the mask and carried the hollow with it, impaling the creature into the wall at the border of the next district. Even after such brutal treatment, the creature continued to fight, struggling painfully to remove Ichigo's zanpakuto. Rukia recovered and froze the creature's limbs. It struggled to break free, but couldn't.

Shaoran converged on the creature, focusing a Rune trapping capsule upon the Soul Eater. The capsule activated and sucked in that cursed Soul Eater Rune like a vacuum cleaner. Deprived of the Rune's power, the vasto lorde fell dead, dangling lifelessly still impaled onto the wall. It soon crumbled into nothingness. Ichigo yanked on Zangetsu's bandage, pulling the sword back to his hand. He went to look at the spoils of their battle.

"So this little thing was the cause of all our troubles?" asked Ichigo.

"Yeah, there are 26 others like it," said Meilin. "This one won't be bothering you anymore. We'll make sure of that."

"There are 26 more of these things?" asked Ichigo incredulously. "Where did they come from?"

"They were locked away in a vault we found while on an archaeological dig," replied Shaoran. "When we found that vault, the Runes had already busted out and fled to other places in the anime worlds. You should have seen the doors! They were metal and were dented and punched opened from inside. Only one Rune remained in the vault. We found some of those missing ones, but others are still out there."

"...And each one of them is as dangerous as that Soul Eater Rune. Is that where you're going with this?" asked Uryu.

"Yep," replied Meilin.

"Yeah, we've already caught a few of them, but as I said, the others are still out there, biding their time. Every second it takes to find them is another they can use to grow stronger," said Shaoran.

"You've helped us but we still don't know that much about you," remarked Rukia. "Since you could see us, you're very spiritually powerful. I never seen anything like the magic you used before."

"So you noticed? I guess you suspect it now. The Runes don't come from this world, and neither do we," admitted Meilin. "We come from a world called Tarota, but the Runes are from another named Harmonia."

"I see," said Rukia. "The Soul Society only just recently learned of the existence of the other anime worlds. We were getting ready to join the worlds at large, but it looks like they came to us."

"I think we were just hazed," remarked Chad.

"Yeah, a great way to welcome us," remarked Ichigo sarcastically.

"Our master funded the archaeological dig that found the vault. After we found out about the Runes, one of them tried to attack our camp, but it fled once it got over in its head. We couldn't just ignore them so here we are, trying to catch them all," said Meilin. "We could use more help, do you think you can lend a hand?"

"Well, I want to help out, but I don't know what the others will say," said Rukia.

Orihime decided to address the Cardcaptors. "You know, I've always wanted to see what it's like in another world... It will be like an extended vacation!"

Although the rest of Rukia's group were willing to help out, those at the periphery and outside didn't want to go. "No, I'm staying in the Soul Society. As much as I like to go chase pretty pictures, they'll probably put me on clean up duty," said Renji.

"I'm staying behind. I have to mind the shop," said Urahara. "If you need anything, just come by."

"Me neither, if you're going, Rukia, I'm going to stay behind to watch the town," said Yoruichi.

"That means the five of us are coming with you," said Rukia. "We'll need to stay back to finish some odds and ends, so come back later to pick us up."

"Sure, we'll see you then," said Shaoran.

**END OF CHAPTER**

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**-*-**

**SPOTLIGHT: Souland (Bleach) **

Politics:  
Souland is an independent world not affiliated with any major powers. In the world itself, its nations are quite similar to modern Earth. In the spiritual realm, the Soul Society is the major power of the afterlife. Hueco Mundo, the realm of the hollows, is more of a chaotic wasteland of roving hollow barbarians than a truly unified nation. There is also a hell, a place for the truly wicked, but very little is known of that place for obvious reasons.

Characters/VIPs:  
The major players from this place are the hollow hunters from Karakura Town. They include Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki, a pair of Soul Reapers and the leaders of their group. Another member, Uryu, is from the Quincy clan of hollow hunters. The last members are Orihime Inoue and Yasutora "Chad" Sado, who gained powers from exposure to Ichigo.

Powers:  
The powers of those in contact with the spiritual world are firmly rooted in ki. There are quite a few schools of ki usage with Soul Reapers and hollows forming the two major ones. Everyone else is of a different, miscellaneous category. Science is also present and equivalent to the modern world.

**-*-**

**-*-**

**SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Soul Eater Rune **  
Domain: Souls, Life, Death, Undeath  
Duality: Life versus Death  
Appearance: Brown Grim Reaper holding a scythe  
Powers: Necromancy

Description:  
This cursed True Rune rules over life and death. It is a terrible Rune which surrounds its bearer with death. True to its name, it devours the souls of those who die around him. Those devoured in this way continue to live on within the Rune itself, neither truly alive, nor truly dead. It gives its bearer dark powers over life and death, allowing him to conjure the undead, creatures which are neither truly dead, nor truly alive.


	6. Warlords 2: Anemone's Curse

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Eureka Seven by Bones makes its debut in this chapter.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.

**-*-**

**-*-**

**The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 **

**Warlords of Jurai Story, part 2: Anemone's Curse **

**-*-**

**-*-**

Thanks to the help of Edward Elric's perfect knowledge of its defences, the Amestrian military secured the factory in the Ishbalan desert. Tenchi's harem, the Elric team, and Tory entered the portal hidden in the owner's office. When the bright light subsided, they found themselves in a rugged, nearly barren world. Unlike the deserts of Ishbal, this place was more of a badlands. The ground was caked and dry, as though it had never rained in this land.

In the distance, the group could see a second factory identical to the first. It was clear Washu was hiding there. The group advanced on the factory and was greeted by the same killer robots in Ishbal. They fired several rounds from energy rifles which they dodged. Tory raised the Shield Card as a defence. With a wave of his hand, he conjured the Mist Card upon them. The sickly green fog corroded the enemy until they fell as piles of bubbling white fizz.

The shots flew at Tenchi his blade parried every shot. With the enemy distracted, Ryoko teleported behind the enemy line. She impaled one and slashed through to hit another. A third turned and attempted to retaliate, but she cut it off by hurling an energy bolt beforehand. With the perimeter guards down, Ed used alchemy to break down the door and enter.

Several robot guards turned to the team as they stepped in. "Incoming!" cried Tory.

They fired shots which Aeka blocked with her Juraian log barrier. She conjured a second barrier around a robot which shorted it out with arcs of lightning. Tenchi advanced while deflecting shots with his Juraian energy sword. Once close enough, he hacked off the gun barrel. Now defenceless, Tenchi made a second stroke for the robot's head, decapitating it in a single swing.

Mihoshi scored a shot directly between a robot's eyes. "Let's go, Washu is on the second floor!"

The group stormed into the office of the galaxy's greatest genius. "Welcome," said Washu in an emotionless monotone like that of a robot.

Tenchi's harem found Washu's reserved, emotionless expression quite unusual. Normally, she was a bit more outgoing and eccentric. She almost seemed like the machines which had attacked them. Tory, however, noticed the emblem of a silver gear on her forehead. He could sense the power flowing from it freely. "Watch out!" warned Tory.

"Washu, we're here to help you!" said Sasami.

"Negative," said Washu. "I do not need any help. It is you who needs help."

Washu turned her arm into a gun and fired it at the team. Through quick reflexes, Aeka raised a barrier to block the shots for the team. Ed and Al alchemically trapped her within a concrete cage, but Washu blew it open with her gun. Ryoko teleported behind her and threw a chop to the back of her head. Washu teleported to the front of the building. The group smashed down the wall to follow her outside.

Tory revealed a Rune capsule to Washu. "Come to me, Machina Rune," said Tory.

The capsule pulsed with power as it dragged the Rune from her forehead. Washu felt agony, as though something was being ripped from her being. Through sheer force of will, Washu attempted to shoot him, but Ryoko intervened. She teleported behind and karate chopped Washu in the back of the head. Washu slumped over and Ryoko caught her before she hit the ground. The capsule worked its magic and sucked the Rune into itself. Tory looked over his prize with smug satisfaction.

"That's one less Rune to worry about," said Tory. "How's Washu doing?"

"Don't worry, I just knocked her out," informed Ryoko.

"She should be bedridden," advised Tory. "Extracting the Rune from her took quite a toll on her body. She needs rest."

With the Rune safely under the group's control, the robots were disabled. Ed transmuted a couch in the lounge into a bed where they placed the unconscious Washu. "Let's let her rest for now," said Sasami.

Mihoshi felt her stomach growl. "You know, I'm feeling hungry. Is there anything to eat here?"

Sasami raided the lounge fridge, but found nothing in them. "There's no food here. We need to find a town. Ryoko, could you please look for a town and report back?"

* * *

Meanwhile, an incident was taking place aboard the flying warship known as the Izumo. A pink-haired girl tossed and turned in her bed as she experienced a vivid, yet terrifying dream. She found herself walking down the metal corridors of her ship. It ship was quiet and barren. The crew had gone to sleep with the exception of a skeletal graveyard shift crew. Compelled to search for something, driven by a hunger she couldn't understand, she prowled the ship.

A crew member walked by in the adjacent hall, not noticing her presence. The girl followed the male crew member down into the ship's cargo hold, where the man searched through some crates for something unknown. The girl snuck up from behind, but alerted the man. The man took a look at her and cowered in terror. "AAAAH!" he screamed, but before he could do anything, the girl pounced on him!

"Anemone!" someone called out. The dream ended and the girl woke up in her bed. "Anemone!" the person called again.

The caller was a black-haired young man in a black military uniform of the Izumo's crew. "Are you okay? You were tossing and turning in your sleep!" said the youth, Lt. Dominic Sorel.

Anemone realized that he was in her private quarters. "Get out! Get out!" she cried, grabbing random things and throwing them at Dominic.

"Okay okay!" he said, cowering from the girl's temper tantrum. Dominic quickly fled the room, not wanting to risk the girl's wrath. "Geez, I was just trying to wake you up..."

Anemone rubbed her eyes and changed out of her sleeping garb into a bell dress. In the meantime, a crew member entered the cargo hold to fetch some items. He noticed a person's foot jutting from behind a set of boxes. The crew member went to examine and found a corpse lying there. The corpse had a look of sheer terror etched permanently on his face. He body was covered in dried blood which had stained his clothes. Much of it had come from the man's neck. His body was surprisingly pale, as though he had bled dry.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed the man, who then went to call for help.

A group crowded around the area as people and security officials came to investigate. Anemone walked in on this incident and found Dominic and even the stern-faced Captain Jurgens among the people witnessing the scene. Jurgens was questioning the man who found the corpse while security sealed off the area. "What happened?" she asked.

"Johnson was murdered," replied Dominic, right to the point. "They think it happened last night. The murderer tried to hide the body behind the crates hoping no one would notice it. Jameson came into the room to get some equipment and found Johnson's body. You know what's strange? Johnson had been drained of blood completely."

"Drained of blood? Like a vampire?" asked Anemone.

"The medic found a pair of puncture marks in his neck," said Dominic, matter-of-factly.

Anemone was quite disturbed by this piece of information. "Who did it? Is there really a vampire on the ship?"

"Don't be silly! Vampires aren't real. You'll only find them in a movie," dismissed Dominic. "Nevertheless, we're going to find out who did this."

Other than the murdered crewman, the day went by rather uneventfully. Anemone did some escort piloting with her LFO, The End, as the Izumo approached Micallah base. It was night time when the great black, plane-like ship reached its destination and most of the crew turned in for the day. Anemone, tired from the day's events, prepared to go to bed. After cleaning up and doing her pre-sleep routine, she combed her hair in front of mirror.

For a brief moment, she saw her reflection change in the mirror. Instead of the beautiful, fiery girl, she saw a different person. It looked like her, but she had a feral aura, like a wild animal waiting to be released from its cage. Her hair almost seemed to stand on end. There was a pair of sharp fangs behind her sinister grin and a burning redness tinting her eyes. On her forehead as an emblem shaped like a crescent moon, open towards the left.

Her heart stopped as she saw the monster reflected in the glass. She froze in fright and nearly fell out of her seat, startled by the sudden change in her reflection. As quickly as it changed, her normal reflection was back in the mirror. She started to question reality, wondering if she was hallucinating. She went into her closet and searched through her clothes.

She noticed something hidden behind a box and retrieved it. It was a dirty dress. After unfurling it, she found several dried blood stains on it. Her heart stopped for a brief instant. A knocking came on the door. Startled froze for a split second. She scrambled to hide the dress in its former location and slammed her closet door shut. She covered the door as though trying to hide the evidence from prying eyes.

"Anemone, are you in there? It's me. I want to talk," said Dominic from behind the metal door.

As Anemone went for the door, she nearly tripped over her rotund pet badger, Gulliver. Fortunately, she saved herself from falling and answered the door. "Hi, I came to ask if you'd like to go out to town today?" asked Dominic.

"Of course, are we going to any place special?" asked Anemone, trying to act natural.

Fortunately, Dominic didn't suspect a thing. Anemone tuned out everything until the only thing she could hear was the beating of Dominic's heart and her breathing. She could now see Dominic's body heat as an aura of redness. Anemone became fixated on Dominic's neck as he talked, not listened to a word he said. and could almost make out his veins and arteries through his skin. She could feel the blood flowing within it, sweet and tender, ripe for her gullet.

"Let's go after breakfast!" said Dominic.

Anemone snapped out of her trance. "Uh great, where do I meet you?" she asked.

"Oh, just meet at the entrance of the base," said Dominic. He pulled Anemone into a kiss. "See ya then!"

Dominic left her room and Anemone was glad that he left as quickly as he did. She was just moments away from biting into Dominic's jugular. It took all of her will power not to give in to her basest urges. She knew now that she was the vampire the crew was hunting. The crew would take vengeance upon her for their murdered comrade. She knew that as a vampire, she would kill again to satiate her unnatural hunger.

Anemone went and returned from her date with Dominic late at night. She was fortunate to have held her hunger in check for so long. As Anemone laid on her bed, it was all she could think about. "Why is this happening to me?" she wondered in her mind.

With such worries racing through her mind, she lost track of time and fell asleep. It was not a restful sleep. As before, she tossed and turned in her bed in the throes of a nightmare. Dominic cowered from her and his face was filled with horror. "No Anemone! AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGH!"

Dominic's scream jolted her awake and it was morning. She was covered in sweat and her heart was racing. Fearing that she had gotten Dominic, she ran to his quarters to find him. "Dominic, open up! Are you in there?" she asked while rapping on his door.

"Whoa, why are you in such a hurry?" asked Captain Jurgens.

"I need to see Dominic. Is he okay?"

"What? Of course he's okay, I just saw him head to the mess hall just a few seconds ago. Is there something wrong?"

Anemone felt relief that her vision had only been just a dream. "No, it's not important now." Anemone returned to her room and sprawled onto her bed. "What's happening to me?" she wondered.

Anemone knew that sooner or later, her hunger would get the best of her. She would end up killing the one she loved, simply to sate her hunger. She knew that there was no other choice; she had to leave. She continued on with breakfast, acting as though nothing was wrong. It was but a ruse. As long as she remained here, the monster could take over and she would kill again. After eating, she packed her belongings and left the Izumo, acting as normally as possible.

On her way out, she noticed Dominic walking into the base through the entrance. Her heart was breaking, but deep down, she knew that one day, the hunger would consume her. She slipped out and disappeared into town, never to see her love again. Dominic never noticed her slip out and disappear into the town. Later on, an investigator came up to show him something he had found from extensive review of security camera footage.

Dominic watched as the video followed Anemone stalking crewman Johnson to the cargo hold. The video continued with Johnson moving out of view and Anemone walking over to his location. What happened next wasn't visible from the camera, which was probably a fortunate thing. It was likely that whatever had happened to was quite horrible, since he was screaming in terror the whole time.

Anemone appeared in the camera's view, her dress covered in blood. She had a sick, sadistic expression of glee and satisfaction on her face as she licked blood from her lips. Dominic couldn't believe what he was seeing. "It can't be..." he muttered.

"Where is Anemone now?" asked the investigator.

"I don't know," informed Dominic. "I saw her at breakfast but that was it."

"I see," remarked the investigator. "If you see her, bring her back, but be careful. Even if she's unarmed, she's highly dangerous."

* * *

The next day, Anemone woke up in a sleeping bag somewhere in a nameless alley somewhere in Micallah. It was hard to sleep outdoors and it got quite cold when night fell on the city. Even here, the nightmares continued to haunt her. Every waking second, she feared that the darkness would consume her soul. She wondered who would be the next innocent person who would fill her hunger.

Despite the cold, her fatigue got the better of her, and she fell asleep. Her consciousness fell into the deepest recesses of her mind. Everything that happened from then on was like a dream to her. The moon marking appeared on her forehead and her eyes shot open. She took on a feral aura with hair nearly standing on end, and fangs hidden behind her snarls. The vampiric Anemone scurried up the wall in way more reminiscent of a spider than a human. As she watched from the roof, she scanned for her prey.

There were so many people that it was hard to choose. She then found a small, blue-haired girl whose hair was tied in pigtails. The girl had expressive pink eyes and carried a bag of groceries down the street. She looked so sweet, just like the blood flowing through her jugular. Anemone cracked a sinister grin and licked her lips greedily. She followed the girl until she walked into a quieter part of town, where the two of them would be alone.

Anemone followed on the rooftops making sure the girl, Sasami, didn't suspect a thing. She eventually dropped down to street level, blocking Sasami's path. Sasami was startled and attempted to flee the other direction. Anemone sped directly in front, blocking her path. Sasami screamed as Anemone raced at her. She dropped her bag as Anemone pinned her to a wall. Anemone opened her mouth and prepared to bite.

"Sasami!" cried Ryoko. Ryoko swung a blade of energy at Anemone. With preternatural vampire reflexes, Anemone rolled away and scurried onto a nearby roof. Ryoko fired a bolt of energy, missing Anemone, but tearing off part of the roof and causing it to smoke. Anemone bared her fangs at Ryoko and hissed before fleeing. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just scared," said Sasami.

Sasami cleaned off her skirt and began to collect her groceries. "Who or what was that?" wondered Ryoko.

Dominic sped into the area on motorcycle, having seen the smoke and heard the explosion. "What happened here?" he asked.

"Some pink-haired girl attacked me!" said Sasami.

"She ran across the roofs that way after I chased her away," said Ryoko, pointing along a set of rooftops.

At that moment, Tory and the others except Mihoshi entered the scene through a rift in space created by the Through Card. "Is everybody okay?" asked Aeka.

"Ryoko, I just detected a Rune in this area," informed Tory.

"It might have been on that girl," said Sasami. "It must be that mark on her forehead."

"In that case, we have to find her!" said Ryoko.

"Who are you people?" asked Dominic, pulling a gun on them from suspicion.

"Please put away your weapon, we mean you no harm," stated Aeka. "We're not your enemy."

"Something is controlling her," said Tory, who explained the nature of Runes, the Moon Rune in particular, to Dominic. "It caused her to attack Sasami and will cause her to do the same to other people if we don't get rid of it."

Dominic, lowered his gun. Having seen power beyond the scope of modern technology, he was willing to believe anything. "Is this true? Is Anemone really possessed by this magical thing?" he asked.

"Do you know that girl?" asked Sasami.

"Yeah, she is someone very close to me," replied Dominic. "If she's being controlled..."

"She is," replied Tory. "If we leave her like that, who knows what she might do. Don't blame her, she's being used."

"Then we have to find her before the military does," said Dominic. "That's probably why she ran away..." he said under his breath.

"Do you have any idea where she might go?" asked Aeka.

"Sorry no," replied Dominic.

"Please tell us your name mister," requested Sasami. "We just met you, but we don't even know who you are."

"I'm Lieutenant Dominic Sorel of the United Federation forces," replied Dominic.

Tenchi's harem and Tory introduced themselves. Ryoko split from the group to take Sasami back to the safety of the factory while the others searched for Anemone. Everywhere they went, they asked about the pink-haired girl. With her appearance, she stood out from the crowd and was noticed by a few people as she fled through the streets. The group followed the trail until it ended.

Tory went to the sky to begin looking while Dominic carried Tenchi and Aeka on his motorcycle. The Cardcaptor sensed the Rune's presence again in a nearby alley. He called the others there where they found Anemone, biting the neck of an innocent woman. She tossed the anaemic woman to the ground and licked the blood from her lips, smiling with sinister satisfaction. When she noticed, Dominic, she bared her fangs and hissed.

"Get her!" cried Tenchi.

Aeka immediately attempted to form a barrier around Anemone. Before she could fully close it, the vampire girl leapt for the wall and scurried up. As she ran across the roof, Tory descended and blocked her path. She bared her fangs and hissed at him before pouncing. Tory teleported away via the Through Card, causing her to miss. He summoned the Maze Card, attempting to suck her into an alternate dimension.

Anemone dashed away from the sucking vortex and sped down the roofs. Tory flew after her in the sky while down below, Dominic, Tenchi, and Aeka followed in the motorcycle. Anemone leapt from roof to roof with speed and agility impossible for her to possess as a normal human being. However, her foes were just as fast as she was and kept on her tail the whole time.

Tory conjured rapidly growing vines from the ground which lashed at Anemone's legs. The vampire girl quickly dodged entrapment by leaping and continued her escape. Tory summoned more vines, one of which tripped her. She took a spill onto the street, where she noticed a nearby dumpster. She lifted the metal container with superhuman strength and hurled it at Tory. Tory banked to avoid it. It crashed with a loud metallic thud on landing.

"Keep after her, we're wearing her down," cried Tory.

Aeka attempted to entrap her in a new barrier, but Anemone escaped and continued running. Tory tried turning the ground to quicksand, successfully pulling her in one of her legs. However, she leapt out, only for Ryoko to suddenly swoop in from behind and grab her. "Ryoko, you're back!" cried Tenchi.

Ryoko held Anemone in a full nelson hold while she lowered Anemone to the ground and the others gathered. "Yeah, I saw you guys chasing her and joined in," replied Ryoko. She struggled to keep Anemone in the hold even with her own superhuman strength. "Man, she's strong! I'm barely able to hold her still."

Tory produced a Rune capsule and which began to suck in the Moon Rune like a vacuum cleaner. As the Rune's power fled her, Anemone stopped struggling and eventually went unconscious. Dominic took her out of Ryoko's hands and cradled her in his arms. "Thank you," said Dominic. "I owe you so much."

"No problem," said Tory. "Anemone will recover if you let her have some rest."

* * *

With Anemone safely in his hands, Dominic loaded her into his motorcycle and returned to base, parting ways with Tenchi's group. On return, he explained the situation about how she had been coerced by outside supernatural powers into committing the murders. Although crazy sounding, the investigators had enough awareness of other worlds and their special powers to believe his story. However, as a side effect of losing the Rune, she had become anaemic.

In several hours time, Anemone awakened once again, still weak and pale from her ordeal with the Moon Rune. "Dominic..." she muttered weakly.

"Hi sweetheart, I'm so happy to see you awake," said Dominic. "Don't say anymore. Just get some rest."

Dominic clasped her hand and Anemone squeezed weakly. He released her and let her sleep off the ordeal. "Lieutenant Dominic Sorel, please come to the bridge," called Captain Jurgens over the intercom system.

Dominic travelled to the bridge to see the captain, who directed him into watching a recorded video feed from what seemed to be a foreign ship. "What's going on?" asked Dominic.

"We are being invaded by aliens," said Jurgens.

Dominic watched the ultimatum play over the screen. "I, Yosho Jurai, leader of the Juraian secessionists, hereby decree this planet to be under our domain. You have three days to lay down your weapons or we will invade. You do not stand a chance against our superior technology. Surrender or face the consequences."

"This is not good," said Dominic. "What is the UF planning to do?"

"They're debating their next course of action," informed Jurgens. "They don't know what to make of this."

"I think I'll pay my friends a visit," said Dominic. He took a copy of Yosho's ultimatum and went to find Tenchi and his harem.

* * *

Washu opened her eyes and gazed on the roof of the factory. "She's awake!" cheered Mihoshi.

"Where am I?" wondered Washu, still weak from having the Rune's power stripped from her.

"You're in a factory east of Micallah in Coralia," replied Mihoshi. "You were out for quite a long time. Tory removed the Rune from your head so that's why you feel so weak."

"What was I doing?" asked Washu weakly.

"The Rune made you build these crazy robots to try and take over the world. Tory got rid of it so there's nothing to worry," replied Mihoshi. "Don't push yourself too hard. You need rest. We'll take care of you until you're back on your feet."

Mihoshi left to fetch Washu something to eat and drink. When she told Sasami and the others the good news, they were quite elated. Washu was well on the road to recovery. She returned with a tray filled with healthy food prepared with Sasami's gourmet cooking. Since the young Juraian princess was such a great cook, her food was quite nutritious and the taste had no equal. Washu ate her fill, drank some water, and laid back on her pillow. Satisfied, Mihoshi left to eat her own meal.

Dominic entered the factory. "Who are you?" asked Ed upon bumping into him.

"I'm Lt. Dominic Sorel. I need to talk to Aeka and the others," said Dominic. "It's very important."

"Okay then, follow me, but no funny stuff," directed Ed. When Ed brought him to the others, Dominic showed them the recording of the ultimatum by Yosho. Aeka was stunned by what she had witnessed. "Secessionists? What's he trying to do? Is he planning on starting a civil war?" asked Aeka.

"You know him?" asked Dominic.

"He's my brother," said Aeka.

Tenchi decided that a more detailed explanation was in order. "Aeka and Sasami are princesses of the planet Jurai," explained Tenchi. "Yosho, is her half-brother from her father's side. He is also my grandfather."

"He's your grandfather?" asked Dominic incredulously.

"Yeah, believe it or not, it's true," said Ryoko.

"He been missing for several days now," informed Tenchi. "Since we had no leads on him, we decided to search for another of our friends who went missing too."

"So, you had no idea what he was doing?" asked Dominic.

"Not a clue. You have to let me see him," said Aeka. "He's going to start a war if he keeps on this path."

"I have a very bad feeling about this," remarked Tory. "I'll coming along just in case."

"I think you should take at least one more person to be safe," suggested Al.

"This is Juraian stuff, so I'll go too, and Ryoko will come along for back up," offered Tenchi. "Ed, please stay here with the others and look after Washu."

"Okay Tenchi, we'll take good care of her," assured Ed.

"In the meantime, why don't you stay and be our guest? I made extra in case we had guests," said Sasami.

"Sure, I'd love to try some of your cooking," said Dominic.

**END OF CHAPTER**

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**SPOTLIGHT: Coralia (Eureka Seven) **

Politics/Demographics:  
The government of Coralia is a union of several semi-independent states into a common government known as the United Federation. At the moment, the UF is recovering from a coup initiated by one of its military men, Dewey Novak. Though aware of them, it had yet to make full contact with other anime worlds, despite having basic space age technology. Coralia is inhabited by humans and the Scub Coral, a life form much like sea coral that can live on dry land.

Characters/VIPs:  
Two of the major players of the UF are Lt. Dominic Sorel and his girl, Anemone. Dominic is a part of UF intelligence, but he also has the job of taking care of the younger Anemone. Anemone is an important pilot for the UF, who underwent special genetic engineering to be able to pilot a special LFO known as The End.

Powers:  
Coralia is firmly rooted in scientific principles. Things such as LFO mecha and their transport ships are made with particularly advanced technology. Genetic engineering is advanced enough to create artificial Coralians such as Anemone. Mankind itself had travelled space for ten millennia and only recently returned to Earth to re-colonize it in the wake of the Scub Coral.

However, there is also a light degree of psionics in this world. It is commonly believed among the Vodarac religion that thought brings energy with it. This belief is actually the fundamental principle behind psionics as a power type. Only Coralians have been known to use psionics.

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**SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Machina Rune **  
Domain: Science power type, machines, technology  
Duality: Artificiality vs. Unnaturalness  
Appearance: A silver gear  
Powers: Grants scientific knowledge, can exceed limits of scientific level of world

Description:  
This True Rune governs the power of science and machines. In fact, this Rune allows the user to transcend the Paradox-enforced scientific limits and rules of his or her world. It represents the fine line between what is artificial and what is unnatural. Even though it may grant the bearer vast scientific knowledge, it also turns them into an emotionless being, just like the machines he or she creates.


	7. Old Friends 2: Ferio's Quest

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Magic Knight Rayearth from CLAMP will make its debut in this chapter.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.

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**The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 **

**Old Friends, part 2: Ferio's Quest **

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**-*-**

After the war with Acme and Omnipotence had ended, the worlds set out to rebuild what they lost. Some suffered more damage and some not as much. In the case of Cephiro, they had suffered heavily as a result of the war. Acme wanted this world's Pillar System, and so took this beautiful, lush world as his headquarters. The final confrontation between him and his enemies took place here.

A single person, known as the Pillar, prayed to ensure Cephiro continued to exist. However, such a position was a trap, for the Pillar could not think of anything else but Cephiro's wellbeing. This ultimately led to the tragedy of a previous Pillar, Emeraude. Seeing the sadness this system had caused to everyone, the Magic Knight Hikaru Shidou abolished the wretched system when she inherited the position.

Now, getting through so much turmoil, Cephiro was about to be the centre of it once again. A child-like magician in robes of white sensed a stirring somewhere in Cephiro. It was a stirring of the earth, something which had been buried within it and long forgotten, now trying to return to the surface once again. It was searching for someone to release it from its earthly prison. Clef decided to address the searching presence with his magic.

"Who are you?" asked Clef.

"I am Terrasque, Rune God of the Earth," said a deep, resonating voice.

"I see," replied Clef. "You are in search of something, are you not?"

"Yes," replied Terrasque. "We, the Rune Gods, were created by those who lived in Cephiro long before your time. When High Priest Zagato worked to protect his love, Emeraude, from harm, he learned of our existence. He claimed one of our kind as his personal Rune God and sealed away the rest of us, including myself. However, he was not able to seal three of my brothers before their masters found them."

"The Magic Knights..." observed Clef.

"Indeed," said Terrasque. "Even after the Magic Knights slew Zagato, his seal on us remained. However, a recent cataclysm on Cephiro has weakened the seal. A selfish, evil man sought to restore the Pillar System abolished by the Magic Knight of Flame. His reckless goals weakened the seals on us, beginning with my own. I can sense that we are headed for a time of much turmoil. My power will be needed by the one who can don me."

"Who is that?" asked Clef.

"He is Ferio, brother of the fallen Pillar Emeraude."

* * *

Clef summoned Ferio to his room in the Pillar's crystal castle. A young teenaged boy with green hair entered his room. He wore a plain yellowy tunic over rugged clothing and boots. He had a large curved sword sheathed and strapped to his back. Notably, he had a scar going across the middle of the his nose, likely caused by a slash a sword or knife. Ferio was very curious, yet somewhat annoyed about his abrupt summoning by Clef.

Ferio let out a light yawn. "Good morning Master Clef, what do you need?"

"Ferio, I have learned that great turmoil will come to the land of Cephiro. This is a rallying call for you and all of our old friends," said Clef.

"Are you going to call Fuu and the others?" asked Ferio.

"In due time, but I have something important to tell you specifically," said Clef. "Ferio, you can don one of the legendary Rune Gods like the Magic Knights can."

"I can? How?" asked Ferio. Clef told Ferio about Terrasque and how he was freed during the war against Omnipotence. "Since you can don a Rune God, you are effectively one of the Magic Knights."

"I am?" asked Ferio.

"Yes," replied Clef. "You couldn't become then because Zagato had sealed your Rune God during his reign. Now that Terrasque is free, he is waiting for you to prove yourself to him."

"I can't be a Magic Knight! I don't even know the first thing about magic!" said Ferio.

"The Magic Knights didn't either, not at first. In fact, they didn't even have the combat experience you have. I gave them elemental magic and armour to begin them on their quest and I'll give the same to you."

Clef waved his hands, focusing magical power upon Ferio. The rugged boy felt a rush of knowledge fill his head, revealing the secrets of magic to him. A cuirass of white escudo metal appeared on top of his tunic. "Cool!" remarked Ferio. "I want to test out my magic."

"You will get your chance later," said Clef. "You will need escudo weapons, so your first destination is Presea's forge in the Forest of Silence. After you have the weapons, you can find Terrasque in a chasm beneath the ruins of Acme's temple. Be careful. After Acme's defeat, the Paradox backlash had let loose several mutated monsters in the area. Please complete your quest as quickly as possible and return to me."

"Don't worry, Master Clef, I'll be back before you know it," said Ferio, who left to search for Presea.

Several minutes after Ferio left, Clef set to work to get his materials in order to summon the Magic Knights back to Cephiro. The image of the three girls appeared in his crystal ball. The red-headed Hikaru Shidou was busy training kendo in her family's dojo. The regal, blue-haired Umi Ryuzaki was practicing fencing after school in her school's gym. The bespectacled blonde, Fuu Hououji, was tutoring a female friend in school work. All three had returned to their lives after the Omnipotence War.

The trio felt an odd disturbance ripple through the world around them. Everything stopped, as though time stood still. Clef's image appeared before each of them. "Magic Knights, we need you in Cephiro. Great turmoil is about to envelop Cephiro and the anime worlds. Please return as soon as you can."

The girls reunited at the observation deck of the Tokyo Tower, where they went on those fateful school trips. Seeing them there, Clef pulled them through space and time to a field somewhere in Cephiro. The three girls looked around at the magical world, which was still in the process of rebuilding itself. "We're back!" said Hikaru.

"Yeah, I wonder how everybody has been since the war," wondered Fuu.

Just moments after, a small white, rabbit-like creature appeared in front of them. It had a single red jewel on its forehead and looked very much like a stuffed animal. "Mokona! It's great to see you!" said Hikaru.

"Buu buu buu!" chirped Mokona.

"So, are you going to take us to Clef?" asked Umi.

"Buu buu!" said Mokona happily.

"Guess that's a yes," observed Hikaru.

Clef tidied his belongings. He sensed something behind him. "Hmm?" he wondered as he turned around. A bright white light filled the room, overtaking his body.

* * *

Several hours later, Ferio found himself at the edge of a large, yet eerily quiet forest. True to its name, it was the Forest of Silence. He proceeded through the lush greenery, but fortunately, the trip was uneventful. Eventually found a lone cottage in the woods. A surprisingly large amount of smoke billowed out of this quaint little home. There were racks of weapons lined outside the home beneath shelters, recently forged by the occupant of this home.

Ferio knocked and was greeted by a lovely brunette. "Ferio? Nice to see you!" said the occupant, Presea.

"Hi Presea, I'm here to pick up some escudo weapons," said Ferio.

"Oh, Master Clef must have sent you?"

"That's right, I'm going to be a Magic Knight," announced Ferio. "I need to get escudo weapons and my Rune God."

"Sure... I don't have escudo on me, but you can find some in the Spring of Eterna nearby. Bring some back and I'll forge a weapon for you," said Presea.

"Cool, see ya later," said Ferio.

Ferio travelled deeper into the forest until he came upon a large body of water much like a large pond. The water was crisp and clean, likely from the pure magic it seemed to radiate. He had arrived at his destination, the Spring of Eterna. Suddenly, Ferio heard a rustling from the bushes behind him. Something pounced out and lunged at him! With no time to think, Ferio dove out of the way.

He came face to face with his opponent, who snarled at him. The strange creature had a human man's arms and legs, which were dressed in camouflage military fatigues. The creature's torso, on the other hand, seemed like some sort of gelatinous substance, an ever shifting blob of shiny grey and light purple. On torso's centre was a single maw filled with sharp teeth which opened sideways rather than up and down.

"What the hell is that thing?" wondered Ferio.

He didn't have much time to dwell upon that thought. The monster lunged at him, trying to sink its teeth into his flesh. Ferio dodged and prepared a spell, Stone Bullet, the first he had learned from Clef. The spell created a piece of rock shaped like an artillery shell and propelled it into the creature. As the Stone Bullet tore through, the creature howled in agony. Ferio took its moment of hesitation to run it through with his weapon. The creature crumpled onto the ground and disintegrated.

"That must have been one of those creatures Clef warned me about," thought Ferio. "That may have been only one, but who knows how many I will encounter at the temple?"

The Spring of Eterna activated, producing a yellow stone which hovered in the air through invisible magical force. Ferio took the stone and pocketed it in his backpack for safekeeping. He backtracked to Presea's home and presented the escudo to the blacksmith. She took it to her smithy and began a mysterious dance around it. As she twirled and leapt into the air gracefully, the escudo formed into a set of twin scimitars.

"All done, try out your new weapons," said Presea.

Ferio took the scimitars and entered a makeshift combat pose. The scimitars were quite light, almost weightless. Ferio swung them around to test them. "They're really well made; light and easy to use," remarked Ferio. "Thanks a lot, Presea, I have to go find my Rune God. Take care."

"You too Ferio, please be careful and good luck," said Presea.

Ferio travelled across the rolling plains and fields of the Cephiran countryside to Acme's temple. Just metres from the temple, he was accosted by a group of the same Paradox monsters from the Spring of Eterna. They charged across the grassy plains in an effort to run him down. Ferio unsheathed his scimitars and went to work. The first pounced on him with maws salivating. Ferio made a pair of slashes which cut the mutated soldier down.

Another trio tried to do the same, but Ferio unleashed a dancing flurry of slashes which cut all of them down. He was surrounded by the monsters but still healthy and fresh. It was a bad situation, but he could turn it around with the right move at the right time. He waited for the creatures to make a fatal mistake. Eventually, one of them decided to pounce in at him. Ferio evaded and made a run for the space opened up.

When he got the needed distance, he held out his hand to project a spell, Topaz Shaker. The ground rumbled ferociously as the spell took effect. Fissures opened in the soil and spikes of yellowish stone burst forth from it. Four of the enemy lost their footing and tumbled into the fissures to their demise. The spikes skewered yet another of the creatures to death. The rest cowered in fear and decided to flee rather than die.

"Phew, that was a close one," thought Ferio.

Ferio came face to face with the ruins of Acme's once mighty temple. It was a shrine in his honour as the false Pillar of Cephiro. The blue, gemstone-like material had collapsed onto the plateau that once housed it. Several of it had also fallen on the ground and littered the surrounding countryside with rubble. After searching the area, Ferio found an entrance into the place by way of a crack in the plateau's base.

He travelled down the long tunnel as the heroes of Valiance had done once before. Much of the tunnel had caved in from the collapse of the temple above it. There were fallen stones everywhere which made the tunnel into a veritable maze, difficult to navigate. Nevertheless, there were cracks and tight opening which he could fit through to slip around to the other side. After worming his way through the corridors, he came upon a hub with five pathways.

Four of these pathways were marked by a gear, muscled torso, brain, and a book. Once, they were the Pathways which represented the four power types of the worlds. The gear and torso Pathways, those of science and ki, had caved in were inaccessible. The brain and book Pathways, of psionics and magic, were still open. The central one led to a large fissure in the ground, an entrance to the underground caverns where Terrasque awaited.

Ferio carefully climbed down using the remains of an elevating platform propped against the side of the stone. As the temple collapse, the fissure must have opened up and the elevator fell in. He wandered deeper until he came upon another temple complex deep under the ground. Its smooth granite walls were adorned by carvings of the ancient language of Cephiro. He didn't know the language and couldn't read it.

Ferio gazed up at a set of massive stone doors with writing on them. "Well, looks like I'm here," he thought.

Ferio opened the door and approached a creature standing at a dais. It resembled an elephant, but with much sharper teeth and a body covered by spikes. Even its tusks had small spikes on them. Although elephants normally were grey, this one was a brownish colour like dirt. It looked far more fearsome than a typical elephant. This must be Terrasque, the Rune God of Earth.

"Magic Knight, seeker of my power; show me the strength of thy heart," demanded Terrasque.

"My heart?" asked Ferio.

"Yes, show me the strength of thy heart," repeated Terrasque. "Show me the strength that will let you wield my power."

"How do I do that?" asked Ferio. As though to answer him, a window into another part of Cephiro became visible. Ferio watched what happened, puzzled at what he would see.

* * *

The Magic Knights, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu, entered the Pillar's castle floating high above the land of Cephiro. As they moved down its hallways, they encountered a stern, blond-haired man in armour on patrol. "Oh Lafarga!" said Hikaru.

"Hello Magic Knights, it's been a long time," said Lafarga. "How have you been?"

"Very well," replied Umi. "Listen, have you seen Master Clef anywhere? We need to see him."

"Yeah, he just left to train in the mountains north of the Forest of Silence," said Lafarga.

"Thanks Mr. Lafarga," said Fuu.

Mokona transported the Magic Knights down to the surface. Umi was quite put off by Clef's inconsiderate behaviour. "Honestly, Clef summoned us, but doesn't have the courtesy to greet us?"

"I don't know, maybe he had something important to do at the last minute?" suggested Hikaru.

"Lafarga told us he just went there to train. Surely, it wasn't so urgent that he could at least left a message, a sign, or something to tell us!" said Umi.

"Look, something's going on over there!" said Fuu.

The other Magic Knights looked to the north where they saw a several black clouds hovering over the mountains. Several flaming meteors rained down upon the land beneath. They punched massive craters into the ground, causing extensive damage to area around the mountains. "What's going on over there?" asked Umi.

"We'd better check it out," said Hikaru.

The girls raced down the plains and came upon a village at the base of the mountains. When they got there, the meteors had stopped raining upon the village, but the damage had already been done. Several homes had been levelled after having their walls torn through by the meteors. There were several people dead on the ground, crushed underneath the massive super hot rocks. Children were crying for their dead parents and many were left homeless from the disaster.

A wounded wizard staggered up to greet the Magic Knights. "Magic Knights, you have to help us! Clef went up the mountains and started to practice his magic. He cast a Crimson Rain spell and caused the meteors to fall onto my village."

"Clef? But that can't be right," said Fuu as he tended to the man's wounds. "Why would Clef do something so dangerous and reckless?"

"I don't know but I saw it with my very own eyes. He started to cast more powerful spells as time went on. Since he was using so much power, I was worried that he might accidentally hit my village. I tried to stop him, but he attacked me! I didn't stand a chance. I made my way back to warn my village, but it was too late. Please stop him before he causes any more harm!"

"Don't worry, we'll speak to him," said Hikaru.

After Fuu handed off the wizard to the town for care, the trio travelled through the rocky paths of the mountains. "What's gotten into Master Clef?" Hikaru asked rhetorically.

"It's not like him to act this way," said Umi. "We'll find out when we get there."

However, the trio eventually ran into Clef as he was travelling through the mountains himself. The Magic Knights wanted an explanation. "Clef!" cried Hikaru.

"Well, if it isn't the Magic Knights..." he sneered sarcastically.

"Why did you cast that Crimson Rain spell when you knew there was a village nearby?" asked Umi. "Did you stop to think that you might accidentally hurt someone?"

"They're irrelevant," stated Clef. He showed the Magic Knights an emblem of white light resembling a book on the back of his left hand. "With this Rune, I have power I could only dream of! I will use it to discover the deepest secrets of magic. I will bind the mightiest forces to my service. Even the gods will not be a match for me."

"You're mad!" said Umi.

"If it's the Rune causing you to act like this, then we'll get rid of it!" assured Fuu.

"Go ahead, if you think you can!" dared Clef.

Hikaru charged at Clef with sword drawn. As she landed with an overhead chop, Clef vanished and appeared in a new location. Umi cast a Water Dragon spell, forming a serpentine dragon head out of water. She sicced it on Clef, who raised a barrier of white light to blunt it. Clef followed by casting the Amber Servant spell. A trio of golems made from yellow stone arose from the ground.

As the golems distracted the Magic Knights, Clef's Rune glowed white as he prepared a most unusual spell. "Darkness from twilight, crimson from blood that flows; buried in the flow of time, in Thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness!"

"No way! He can cast that spell?" said Hikaru, evading a golem's punch.

Umi dodged her golem's hammer fist. It hit the ground, causing it to shudder. Umi moved close to Hikaru. "He's risking Paradox to get us! Now I know he's crazy!"

Fuu evaded a golem's punch. "Gotta move fast!" she thought, raising a Winds of Protection spell around her team.

"Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!" finished Clef.

Clef unleashed a beam of darkly crimson, magical power upon the girls. The Winds of Protection shielded them as the Dragon Slave exploded in a burst of light. It blasted the land around them, levelling everything around them. The land had been scorched black. Although the Winds of Protection blunted the bulk of the force, part of the Dragon Force got through. It flattened the girls.

"Clef..." said Hikaru before passing out.

* * *

"I have to go save them!" said Ferio.

"You mustn't leave!" said Terrasque. "You have yet to show me the strength of thy heart."

"Forget it! Fuu needs me. I'm going to save her from Clef no matter what it takes," said Ferio.

Ferio cast the Earthen Step spell, sinking into the ground and resurfacing just outside the village devastated by Clef's magic. He rushed to the mountains and eventually reached where the girls were. They were sprawled on the ground and immobile. "Another Magic Knight?" asked Clef.

"Yeah, I've come to save Fuu and the others," said Ferio. "Nothing will stop me, not even you, Master Clef."

Ferio hurled a Stone Bullet at Clef, who teleported away to escape. Clef sent Ruby Lightning at Ferio, who countered with the Yellow Barrier. Ferio's spell erected a wall of yellow stone in front of the Ruby Lightning's path. After the enemy's spell subsided, the wall sank into the ground. Clef hurled a Flame Arrow, but Ferio used his Earthen Step to sink into the ground. He resurfaced near Clef and charged in.

Ferio aimed a slash at Clef's torso, which the Master Mage blocked with his staff. Ferio's left sword came in for a decapitating blow, but Clef quickly parried again. Ferio attempted a stab, but Clef parried again. Clef hurled a Flame Arrow, but Ferio narrowly parried with the flat of a scimitar. Ferio lunged, but Clef vanished and reappeared several steps behind him.

"I grow bored of this," he remarked, quickly hurling a Water Dragon at Ferio. It washed Ferio into the ground, leaving him sprawled on the stony surface.

"Even I'm not enough," said Ferio, too wounded to move.

Clef began a mighty spell to finish off all four of the Magic Knights once and for all. A voice suddenly echoed from the ground and the mountains themselves. "Magic Knight, you have shown me the strength of thy heart. You are ready to don me."

A robotic hand burst from the ground and snatched Clef in its grip. The wizard winced in pain as the life was crushed out of him by the Rune God. "Terrasque came to save me," Ferio thought.

Suddenly, Sakura and the rest of her team entered the scene. "The Rune's on Clef," said Sakura. "I'm going to capture it. Take care of the others."

"Okay," said Madison.

Sakura produced a capsule and directed it at Clef. Trails of magical light emerged from the Master Mage as the Rune was dragged into it. After a few seconds, the Rune was safely inside the capsule, unable to possess anyone anymore. Clef fell unconscious and Terrasque released him gently on the ground. His climbed out of the hole to await his new master's command.

In his robot form, Terrasque was much like the other Rune Gods in their glory. He was a biped robot with a yellowish chassis with spikes all over his body. He was bulkier and more muscular than the other Rune Gods. This was especially true of his legs, which were stumpy much like an elephant's. He had tusks on his face much like those of his elephantine form, but smaller and more in proportion to his smaller head.

Yoshino directed the Powers of Nature upon Ferio's wounds. They manifested as a clear liquid filled with life-giving nutrients sprayed out of her hands. "Thanks, whoever you are," said Ferio.

"I'm Yoshino," she said, as Ferio returned his Rune God to the citrine-coloured on his left hand.

After being tended by the others, the original Magic Knights started to regain consciousness. Fuu still felt dazed from being knocked out so abruptly. "Ow, what happened?"

"You were knocked out by Clef," replied Ferio. "I tried to help you, but he got me too. Things were going badly until my Rune God intervened."

"Wait, Rune God?" asked Umi. "Does that mean you're a Magic Knight too, Ferio?"

"Yep," he replied. "I just finished my quest to get its power. I'll be joining you girls from now on."

"Just what was that thing that was controlling Master Clef?" asked Hikaru, after sitting up from being revived.

"It's called the Tome Rune. It's also known as the Magic Rune," replied Sakura. "We were wondering where it went after it had attacked us." Sakura proceeded to tell the Magic Knights how she had run afoul of the Rune during an archaeological dig. She also introduced the new friends she had made during her adventure. "We've been trying to reseal them ever since."

"Yeah, we've captured a few of them, but there are still a lot of them out there," said Kero.

"The Tome Rune was controlling my actions," said Clef. "I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble."

"Don't worry about it," said Hikaru. "We're glad that it's over."

"If there are more of these Runes out there, you must stop them before they threaten Cephiro like the Tome Rune has," said Clef. "Magic Knights, join Sakura in her quest. Please give them all the help you can."

"Of course," said Ferio. "We won't let something like this happen again."

"Well Sakura, looks like we're teaming up with you again," said Umi.

**END OF CHAPTER**

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**-*-**

**SPOTLIGHT: Cephiro (Magic Knight Rayearth) **

Politics:  
Cephiro is a rustic world ruled by various kings and queens, making its form of government monarchies. It is a member of the Tsubasa Alliance along with its allies, Autozam, Chizeta, and Fahren. It is also allied to the Digital Nations by way of the Digital Bloc alliance.

Characters/VIPs:  
The major characters are the Magic Knights Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuzaki, Fuu Hououji, and the newest knight, Ferio. Master Mage Clef is their guide and mentor, the one who gave them advice on dealing with magical situations.

Powers:  
Cephiro is a fantasy world straight out of an RPG, and is thus filled with magic. Wizards learn their craft from mentors and cast powerful elemental spells for a variety of purposes. Cephiro also has high technology, but mostly from its ally Autozam, a space-faring civilization and from the ancient lost technology used to build the robotic Rune Gods.

**-*-**

**-*-**

**SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Tome Rune **  
Domain: Magic power type, the occult  
Duality: Knowledge vs. Wisdom  
Appearance: Open book drawn in white  
Powers: Holder gains limitless magical knowledge. Holder can cast any magical spell, regardless of Paradox.

Description:  
AKA the True Magic Rune, the Tome Rune is one of the most coveted of the True Runes. Since all Runes are above the rules of the power types, they are also beyond Paradox. Thus, the Tome Rune allows its holder to cast any spell without the threat of Paradox backlashes. It grants its holder vast magical knowledge and power, but doesn't give the user the wisdom to know how and when to use the power they've gained. In fact, the Rune causes the holder to become extremely reckless with their newfound powers.


	8. Horror Story 3: Decline and Solace

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Avatar: The Last Airbender by Nickelodeon makes its debut this chapter.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.

**-*-**

**-*-**

**The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 **

**Horror Story, part 3: Decline and Solace **

**-*-**

**-*-**

A portal of glimmering white light opened at the edge of the archaeologist camp in the ancient city of Crystal Valley. Shaoran and Meilin emerged from it, followed by the Soul Reapers Ichigo, Rukia, and their friends. "Wow, your home town is huge. What's it like living here?" asked Orihime.

"We're not actually from here. We come from other places. We're just here to take part in an archaeological dig," said Meilin. "This city was once buried underneath dirt."

"It must be dark living so deep beneath the ground," remarked Orihime.

"Never mind..." said Shaoran exasperated that Orihime didn't get it. "We'll show you to the man who's leading the dig."

The group travelled through Crystal Valley briefly before reaching the location where the archaeologists worked. Some of the men where repairing homes near the Royal Palace in order to provide a more comfortable environment to live in. The repair men used one of the buildings as a central office where the men could coordinate repairs. This building had a desk with a secretary and tools stored in a nearby wing.

The Cardcaptors led the group to the book tent, just outside of the palace grounds. All excavated tomes were kept here, where Clow Reed and Aiden Avalon worked to translate them and glean the lost knowledge of the Harmonians. The tent was a spacious abode, but that fact wasn't readily apparent from all the books piled around everywhere. There was workbench for analyzing books and a computer for copying information.

Clow Reed looked up from the work bench when he detected the entrance of his apprentices. "Hi Shaoran, hi Meilin," said Reed. "What brings you here?"

"Hi Master Reed, we're here to introduce some new allies to the cause and to return a Rune," replied Meilin.

"Oh wonderful, this will bring us one step closer to completion. Who are our new helpers?" asked Reed. The Soul Reaper team introduced themselves one at a time. "Well met; nice to meet you all."

"Master Reed, we'll return the Soul Eater Rune to the vault," said Shaoran.

"Go ahead," said Reed. When they left, he decided to address his new guests. "Welcome to our camp. We don't have much here, but make yourselves comfortable."

"How many of these Runes have you found already?" asked Uryu.

"Hmm, I'd say about ten or so," said Clow Reed.

"Ten already? That's pretty good," remarked Chad.

"Yes, we're making good progress if I do say so myself," remarked Reed. "If this keeps up, we'll have them all no time."

"I doubt it will be that easy," said Uryu.

"Yeah, I mean, I hope it is, but we're prepared in case things take a turn for the worse," said Reed. He sensed the presence of a vast dark power in another world. It was another Rune.

"What's the matter?" asked Rukia.

"Another Rune," replied Reed.

* * *

The Earth Kingdom of the Bender Nations had gone through so much and no city had suffered more than the capital, Ba Sing Se. First were the two Fire Nation attacks, which had breached the towering walls of the city. It was only the second attempted where the Fire Nation successfully captured the city. After the Avatar defeated the Fire Nation's leader, the people expected to settle down and rebuild.

Indeed, Ba Sing Se returned to peace for a time. However, soon after the war, the Bender Nations joined their entire world with the Tooniverse. Some time after, Adam Acme and Omnipotence rose to power. The Acme dictatorship imposed a draconian occupation over the Earth Kingdom, leading to protests from the people, and riots. Frustrated with the situation, Omnipotence used the El Hazardan weapon known as the Eye of God to silence them.

That deadly attack left a single massive crater in the centre of Ba Sing Se. It was at the square where one of the greatest protests and riots had occurred. Nothing remained after the attack; not houses, not people. Even the soil itself had been wiped out, exposing the buried city of Old Ba Sing Se to the light of the sun. Even now, a year later, the hole had not been completely resealed, but the people of Ba Sing Se persevered.

Outside the city gates, an old rotund Fire Bender kneeled in prayer. The wizened old man wore robes of red, indicating a position of nobility from his homeland. This man was Iroh of Fire Nation royalty. A pair of incense sticks burned beside the picture before him. The picture was of a younger man much like him in appearance. This man, Lu Ten, was Iroh's late son, who fell in the first battle of Ba Sing Se.

That night, Iroh tossed and turned in his bed at the local inn. "Father..." said an eerie voice.

Iroh woke up and saw the spirit of his only son, Lu Ten, before him. "Lu Ten?"

"Father, it is good to see you. I missed you so," said Lu Ten's spirit.

"I missed you too, my son," said Iroh.

"Father, great peril will befall the four nations," warned Lu Ten.

"Peril? What kind of peril?" asked Iroh.

"I can not say," replied Lu Ten. "...But heroes will come to aid us. They will come from a land far away, from a world beyond our own, for the darkness that will consume our land threatens theirs as well. Only united can we stand against it. Seek these heroes out and join their cause."

Lu Ten began to fade away. "Lu Ten, wait!" cried Iroh, but his son's spirit had already faded away.

The next day, Iroh was awakened by a young Fire Nation boy. The boy had the look of someone who had experienced much in such a short time. He had a brown burn scar around his left eye, likely a wound suffered from fighting other Firebenders, martial artists who practiced a fighting style which controlled fire. The boy was Zuko, his nephew and protégé. Zuko was quite annoyed by Iroh sleeping in.

"Wake up uncle, it's morning already," said Zuko.

"Wha... Zuko?" asked Iroh.

"Yeah, you were going on about Lu Ten in your sleep," informed Zuko.

"I had the strangest dream last night. Lu Ten's spirit came to visit me," said Iroh.

"Oh?" asked Zuko curiously.

"He warned me about a darkness that was coming to the four nations. He told me that heroes were coming to help us fight against it. He told us to join these heroes."

"It's just a dream, it can't mean anything..."

"Dreams carry a lot of meaning, Zuko. Some believe they are a portal to the future," lectured Iroh.

"Well, the only portal I'm going through is the one leading to the dining room," said Zuko.

The day passed by uneventfully. Like usual, the uncle and nephew helped the Earth Kingdom rebuild in Ba Sing Se, pausing to eat during breaks. When they had a free moment, they practiced their Firebending to stay sharp. Night came and the duo went to bed. However, their sleep was not a sound one. In the middle of the night, they were awakened by the sound of pained groaning and footsteps stirring in the hallway. Something rapped against the walls.

"Uncle, what's that sound?" asked Zuko as he bolted awake.

Another rapping sound came from the outside. Iroh sat up abruptly sat up. "Someone's trying to get into our room."

Suddenly, a part of the door burst out. Zuko and Iroh jumped out of bed and got into a fighting stance. They spotted a desiccated arm reaching into the room. It looked like one that belonged to a corpse. Another chunk of the door burst out, revealing that it was indeed an animate corpse at the door! "They're zombies!" exclaimed Zuko.

"This must be what Lu Ten was trying to warn me about!" observed Iroh. "Get our things. We'll escape through the window."

The duo quickly grabbed their possessions and fled out of the window. As they ran down the street, they turned a corner and came face to face with more zombies. The zombies turned to them and lumbered forward. "Wrong way!" said Zuko, quickly running back the way he came. More zombies blocked that path as others began to converge on their location. "We're trapped! There's no way out!"

"Then we'll make one!" said Iroh, hurling fire in the direction of the first zombie group. "There are less of them this way. We'll fight our way out!"

The duo charged at the zombies, hurling fire at each of them. "Be careful Zuko, they might be carrying disease. Don't let them cut you!" warned Iroh.

"You don't have to tell me!" said Zuko, easily evading a zombie's swipe. Zuko hurled another fire blast, knocking down the zombie and opening a path out. "The way's clear. Let's go!"

As the duo burst out of the gates of Ba Sing Se, a white flying bison descended near them. "Zuko! Over here!" cried a boy in orange and yellow garb, Aang.

"Am I glad to see you!" said Zuko, climbing onto the bison's back with Iroh.

The bison took off just as more zombies attempted to climb out of holes in the ground. "Of all the things we have to go up against, it had to be zombies," quipped a young warrior with tanned skin, Sokka.

"What's the matter? Afraid they'll eat your brains?" asked the blind girl, Toph.

"Hey, I happen to like my brain!" replied Sokka. "It helps me think of stuff."

"Where are these things coming from?" asked Sokka's sister, Katara. "This isn't natural. Dead people don't just get up and start moving like that."

"Uh, that's exactly what they're doing," said Sokka.

"I mean this isn't normal. Someone or something's making the dead rise from their graves."

"If there is, we'll find out what it is later," replied Aang. "I'm taking us to Omashu for now."

* * *

The flying bison, Appa, took Aang, Zuko, and friends to a massive Earth Kingdom city built on a single mountain. The city itself was constructed of rock and looked almost like a trio of stone pyramids surrounded by walls. It was a heavily fortified city, built to be defended easily in a war. All of its buildings were built directly into the mountainside. It had several stone slides which Earthbenders used to deliver packages across the city.

Appa landed in an open area and let his master and friends climb off. "Let's rest here for now. In the meantime, let's ask around to see if we can find anything."

"Uncle and I will take the market," said Zuko.

Zuko and Iroh walked over the Omashu marketplace, which was lively even as zombies attacked other parts of the Earth Kingdom. Dozens of people and merchants were there, exchanging various odds and ends. Zuko and Iroh passed by some produce stands operated by local farmers. Another stand in a small distance away sold baskets and containers. Other stands sold more exotic items and trinkets from faraway places like the Fire Nation and Water Tribe lands.

The duo encountered a duo of foreign individuals conversing with a merchant. The male foreigner had spiky orangey hair, as though it had been bleached. He had a large cleaver sword strapped to his back which had a bandaged handle. The woman had short black hair and a sheathed katana, but both weapons seemed to have an unearthly air about them. Both foreigners were dressed in black robes.

"There are rumours that the dead are rising from their graves at night. I heard that they had attacked Ba Sing Se just the other day," said the merchant.

"Have there been any attacks here?" asked the female foreigner.

"I've heard rumours at the bar of the dead rising in the Si Wong Desert at night. There had been a battle there between the Earth Kingdoms and the Fire Nation during the war," said the merchant.

"Okay, thanks for your story," said the bleached foreigner.

"Excuse me, but were you asking about the risen dead?" asked Iroh.

"Yep, we want to find out what's causing it to happen," said the bleached foreigner.

"Well, you're in luck, we also want to find out what's causing the dead to rise," said Zuko, who then introduced himself and Iroh to the foreigners.

"Royalty hmm? I'm Ichigo Kurosaki and this is Rukia Kuchiki. We're here to stop the zombies," introduced the foreigner with bleached hair.

"Yeah, we just need to find out where they're all coming from, before we set out," said Rukia, the other foreigner.

"In that case, would you mind if my friends and I tagged along?" asked Zuko.

"I guess that would be alright, but we're not alone either," said Rukia. "Tell you what, go and get your friends and we'll come back with ours in a few minutes."

The two sides gathered their companions at the marketplace. Zuko brought in Aang, the Avatar, and his companions. Rukia had shown up a short time afterwards, followed by her hollow-hunting party and Shaoran and Meilin of the Cardcaptors. The two sides exchanged introductions and became acquainted with one another. Zuko's side huddled away to talk about their next move.

"They all look pretty strong," remarked Aang.

"Are you sure we can trust them?" asked Katara.

"We need all the help we can get," said Zuko. "You saw how many of them there were. We need all the help we can get."

"They very sincere about wanting to stop the zombies, but I get the feeling they know something about them that they're not telling us," said Toph. "It seems they don't completely trust us yet."

"We've just met them, so there's nothing strange about that," remarked Sokka.

"In any case, it would not be a good idea to press them on this issue right now," advised Iroh. "The risen dead should be our concern."

"I agree," said Sokka. "We can take it up with them once this is over."

Zuko's team broke apart. "Alright, let's get going," announced Aang. "We'll wait for night and then go to the desert on my flying bison."

The group split up and reunited as the sun began to set at the horizon the very next day. Ichigo sized up Appa, Aang's flying bison. "Are you sure you can fit us all on there?" asked Ichigo.

"Don't worry, Appa's very strong," replied Aang. After everyone boarded, he pulled on the reins. "Yipp yipp!"

The flying bison carried the combined team over to the Si Wong Desert. As night fell, the desert grew very cold, a drastic change from its hotness during the day. The moon was out in full, casting light upon the sandy dunes. The desert was eerily calm, until they spotted several decrepit hands reaching out of the sand. They belonged to zombies who were attempting to climb out of the sand and wander about.

"Let's clean up that group first," said Rukia.

Aang brought Appa down on the sand a few metres from where the undead were congregating. When the group approached, the zombies advanced on them. All of them were dressed in Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom military uniforms. They were once men and women who served in the warring armies, but fell during battle. "Ugggghhhh..." groaned the zombies as they shambled forward despite the stiffness of rigor mortis.

Rukia immediately chanted words to a kido spell. Flames balled in her hand, which she then launched into the midst of the zombies. The sphere exploded with great force, incinerating many with a single burst. "Powerful!" remarked Aang.

"Not even Azula could put that much power into her Firebending," remarked Zuko. "...But the technique is different."

"Dance!" Rukia commanded her zanpakuto. The blade coated with white snow and grew a beautiful, fluttering ribbon of white frost. She lured several zombies to surround her, but it was a trap. She twirled in a circle, freezing everything around her instantly. The zombies were rendered immobile as statues of ice.

"She can Waterbend too?" asked Katara.

"Less talking more fighting!" said Sokka.

As the others moved to form the battle lines, Sokka cut down three zombies coming at him. His sword, made of exotic metal from a meteorite, sliced through the undead like air. With bodies cut to pieces, his victims collapsed to the ground, yet still futilely struggled to fight back. Sokka cut down another and another, reducing them to a pile of body parts.

Zuko and Iroh spewed several fire blasts at the undead which surrounded them. Each blast which connected set the zombies ablaze. One of the zombies slipped through and made a swipe at Iroh. The old Firebender deflected the blow and kicked flame into its vulnerable abdomen. The zombie caught ablaze yet persisted in making a retaliatory swipe, feeling no pain from being on fire.

Iroh ducked and hurled another blast of fire, knocking the monster down. "They don't know when to stay down," warned Iroh.

After hacking through the horde of zombies, the team regrouped. "Well, that went pretty well, I think..." remarked Sokka, watching a severed arm twitch on the ground.

"We may have stopped these ones, but we need to find the ringleader," said Rukia. "He can't be too far from here. Let's ask around at the local villages."

The team rode on Appa to villages which bordered the Si Wong Desert. They questioned villager after villager and confirmed that the zombies were operating out of the Si Wong Desert, which they already knew. Being creatures of darkness, they could only move about during the night. In fact, they also seemed to have a leader as suspected. This zombie ringleader was the reanimated corpse of a fallen Fire Nation general, one who had fallen during the war.

The next night, the team set out again to find the zombie of the Fire Nation general. They flew over the Si Wong Desert looking for any zombie which appeared to stand out from the others. After several passes, all they saw were regular zombies, from dead travellers to fallen Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom soldiers from the war. After more than an hour of searching, they eventually spotted a unique zombie unlike the others.

This zombie had tattered armour which was still more elegant than that of his followers. Though most of his hair had fallen out, he had a single ponytail which was decorated by a golden, ring-like ornament with designs like a flame. This unique item identified the zombie as not just any general, but a member of the Fire Nation's royal family. Whoever he was in life, he was very powerful and high in the hierarchy of command.

Appa descended a safe distance from the zombie horde to let his riders disembark. They hid behind a sand dune and watched as the zombies milled about aimlessly around the zombie noble. As Iroh analyzed the zombie noble's features, he felt a disturbing sense of familiarity from it. He knew he had seen this particular zombie's face before. He just couldn't grasp who it was.

However, before Iroh could ponder this turn of events, one of the zombies spotted the group hiding behind the dune. The zombies immediately made an about face and shambled towards them. "I'm going for the leader," said Iroh. "Zuko, come with me!"

"I'll come too," said Meilin.

Though irredeemably slow, the zombies were vast in number and totally without fear. Within seconds, they could swarm any single member of the team and overwhelm him or her completely. Katara whipped water at one, catching the monster in the chest. The monster went down without even the chance to put up a fight. She lashed the water at another in the horde, putting her flat on the ground.

As the battle lines formed, explosions and fires erupted in the zombie battle line. The team blasted them with powerful supernatural attacks. Unnoticed in the confusion, Iroh led Zuko and Meilin to the zombie noble, who stayed away from the front lines with an entourage of bodyguards. When Iroh's group approached, the zombies turned to them, groaning in agony as they slowly shambled towards them.

When Iroh took a good look at the zombie noble, he suddenly realized who he had been in life. "Lu Ten!"

"Lu Ten? You mean my cousin?" asked Zuko. He hurled a fire blast which dropped an attacking zombie.

"Yes! I'd recognize that face anywhere. It's Lu Ten!" said Iroh, bending lightning to fry another.

Zuko hurled a dual fire blast, incinerating a third zombie. "Lu Ten's the leader of the zombies? How could that have happened?"

On Lu Ten's sword was an emblem of a black circle with stars in it. It glowed with an unnatural black light. Meilin pointed to that emblem. "You see that symbol on his sword? That thing is controlling him."

Meilin dodged a zombie's swipe. In retaliation, she fired a Shot Card magic bolt. It pierced a hole through a zombie, sending her to the ground in a heap. Zuko evaded a zombie's slash and regrouped with Meilin and Iroh. "How is that possible?" asked Zuko.

"That thing is a source of magic," said Meilin. "It's called the Night Rune. As long as Lu Ten has that sword, he will never find rest. I can remove it, but you must distract Lu Ten so I have the time to pull it off."

"I don't like this. When Lu Ten died, I was devastated," said Iroh.

"Uncle, you can't be thinking of letting Lu Ten continue on like this?" asked Zuko.

The zombies swiped at random members of Iroh's team. The team backtracked to avoid injury. Meilin conjured a massive pillar of fire with the zombies. The towering fire lit the land for miles around and instantly incinerated a dozen to ash. Zuko and Iroh bent fire upon the horde, picking off a dozen with their Bending combined. Despite their massive combined attack, zombie Lu Ten raised more zombies to throw at them.

"No," said Iroh. "I wasn't there for him when he needed me the most and it cost him his life... Lu Ten, I understand why you came to see me that night. You want me to end your suffering, didn't you? You want me to give you peace. Lu Ten, I am coming to save you!"

Iroh hurled several blasts of flame at the zombies protecting the zombie Lu Ten. His renewed attacked opened a clear path directly to his decrepit son. Iroh waded through zombies while Zuko and Meilin hurled fire at the others to keep them at bay. Lu Ten immediately bent fire at Iroh, but the old general blocked and dissipated the flames. Iroh inhaled and expelled a powerful blast of flame.

Zombie Lu Ten shunted the flames away and hurled a blast of his own. Iroh deflected the blast and bent lightning from pointing fingers. The electricity hit Lu Ten in the chest. Lu Ten's metallic armour conducted it all over his body, paralyzing him with uncontrollable spasms. Meilin saw her chance and held a Rune sealing capsule aloft. The Rune began to glow with dark power, desperately trying to cling on to its host.

"Cover me! I need time to remove the Rune," said Meilin.

Zuko and Iroh closed ranks and formed a defensive line around Meilin. No zombie would get past them while they stood. Several zombies converged on the duo and swiped at them with swords and disease-ridden, broken nails. Zuko sidestepped and punted fire into his attacker's abdomen. With a follow-up pair punches, he landed fire blasts on the monster's chest. As the zombie fell, he caught on fire and started to burn.

Iroh bent more lightning, arcing it to hit two zombies shambling forward. A third attempted to attack from his blind spot, but he dodged and punted fire into the offender's groin. He breathed in deeply and breathed fire like a dragon. The massive, intense flames consumed more than a half dozen zombies, instantly charring them to ash. Iroh backed away and retook his position in the defensive line with Zuko.

The Rune snapped out of zombie Lu Ten's sword, sucked into the capsule. Without anything to animate it, Lu Ten's body fell to the ground lifeless. The zombies immediately followed suit just seconds afterwards. Lu Ten's spirit appeared over his lifeless corpse. "Thank you father. I can find peace once again. It was great to see you again, if only for a short time. Goodbye and take care."

As quickly as he appeared, Lu Ten's spirit vanished. "Wait!" cried Iroh.

However, Zuko held his uncle back. "Let him go, Uncle. I'm sure Lu Ten is grateful for what we've done for him. Without that thing on his sword, he will be at peace in the afterlife."

That night, Zuko and Iroh prepared a funeral pyre for the body of Lu Ten outside of Omashu. Toph bent the earth to create a dais of stone onto which they prepared a bed of straw. After placing Lu Ten's remains on the pyre, Iroh breathed fire onto it. Iroh stood back and watched with tear-filled eyes as the fires consumed his son's body, burning it to ash. When the flames died down, he and Zuko collected the ashes in an urn.

The next day, the heroes gathered to discuss their next course of action. "Thank you, especially you Meilin. Your help allowed us to free Lu Ten from his suffering," said Zuko.

"You knew about the Rune didn't you and how it was causing the dead to rise?" asked Iroh.

"Yes," replied Meilin. "We've been hunting this Rune and others like ever since we found out about them. There are 27 in total, but we've already caught about a third of them."

"We were afraid of what might happen if the wrong person were to get his hands on them. That's not considering that the Runes can control whoever they attach to," said Shaoran.

"I see," remarked Iroh. "So is that why you didn't tell us about them earlier?"

"Exactly, we had to be sure you wouldn't try to take the Rune for yourself," said Rukia. "The Runes are very powerful and very dangerous. If an evil person were to ever take control of a Rune, they would gain incredible power."

"So Lu Ten wasn't the only one," continued Zuko, beginning to realize the significance of the threat the Runes posed. "Please let me and my uncle join you on this mission. It's the least we can do to repay you."

"Of course," said Meilin.

"Hey, don't forget about us," said Sokka.

"Yeah, this thing is bigger than the four nations now," said Aang. "We should do our part to help."

**END OF CHAPTER**

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**-*-**

**SPOTLIGHT: Bender Nations (Avatar the Last Airbender) **

Politics/Demographics:  
The Bender Nations are filled with people with cultures largely similar to those of Asia. These people come from one of four nations, the Fire Nations, the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and the Air Nomads. It recently seceded from its former bloc, the Tooniverse, as a result of political fallout from events in the Omnipotence War.

Characters/VIPs:  
Among the most well known individuals of the Bender Nations is the Avatar, a being who reincarnates over the ages to combat evils and maintain harmony. The current Avatar is Aang of the Air Nomads. His companions include Katara and Sokka of the Water Tribe, Toph of the Earth Kingdom, Prince Zuko and General Iroh of the Fire Nations.

Powers:  
The Benders of the Bender Nations use ki as they practice one of four styles from a group of martial arts called "Bending." Each style of Bending uses one of the four elements of earth, fire, water, and air. Through martial arts practices, a Bender can use the elements for various attack and defence techniques. With the exception of the Avatar, each Bender can only use one style.

The Bender Nations are pre-industrial at first glance, but have harnessed their Bending arts to create their own version of Real World technology. The Earth Kingdom has delivery and public transportation systems using Earthbending to propel stone sleds and trains. The most advanced nation is likely the Fire Nation, which employs steam engines powered by Firebending.

**-*-**

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**SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Night Rune **  
Domain: Night, darkness, twilight, the fallen  
Duality: Decline vs. Solace  
Appearance: Black orb with stars  
Powers: Create, control, and destroy creatures of the night

Description:  
This Rune represents the night, darkness, twilight, and decline. Its nature is to cause decline, allowing things to come to an end properly. It controls creatures of the night, which have fallen and become lost. Due to its nature, it is a very powerful weapon against these beings, particularly against undead. Though the night, and hence the Rune, provides a place for fallen creatures, it is also provides solace for them and a time to reflect and be reborn anew.


	9. Old Friends 3: Fertility & Barrenness

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto makes its debut in this chapter.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.

**-*-**

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**The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 **

**Old Friends, part 3: Fertility and Barrenness **

**-*-**

**-*-**

Having captured another Rune, Sakura's group returned it to the safety of the vault in Crystal Valley. Thanks to the efforts of the Cardcaptors, the vault was beginning to fill up once again with orbs sealing its escaped prisoners. After Sakura left the palace, she chanced upon Yoshino Fujieda, talking to two other boys. The first was brown-haired with a fiery disposition and an orange baby dinosaur for a partner. The other was part Caucasian and had a blue-furred wolf partner.

"Hi Yoshino, who's that?" asked Sakura.

"Oh hi, this is Marcus Daimon, Agumon, Thomas Norstein, and Gaomon," listed Yoshino. "Everybody, meet Sakura."

"Hi," said Agumon.

"Nice to see you," said Marcus.

"Pleased to meet you too," said Thomas.

"Yep, nice to meet you," said Gaomon.

"Hello everybody," said Sakura.

"We're going to be working together, so please get to know each other," said Lalamon.

"Sure, we could always use more help," remarked Sakura.

"I'm all fired up now. I want to see some action," said Marcus.

"You and me both boss! It will be nice to fight something other than Digimon for once," remarked Agumon

"Well, you'll get your wish soon," said Kero. "We're going to see Master Reed about new Runes. If he has detected any, we'll be moving out."

As Sakura continued on her way, she happened to bump into Clow Reed on his way out of the artefacts tent. "Hi Sakura," said Reed. "You're just the one I've been looking for."

"Yeah, I was going to ask if you found any new Runes?" asked Sakura.

"Yep," replied Reed. "Do you remember those ninja who were helping us in the Omnipotence War?"

"Yeah, a little," replied Sakura.

"That should help. The next Rune is somewhere in their home world. See if you can get some help from the Hokage of the Leaf Village."

* * *

At the border of the Grass and Earth Countries was a mountain of grey granite. At the base of this mountain was a long, vast plain filled with verdant grass. The land was beautiful and calm and then it struck. A rumbling shook the land to its very foundation. Rocks tumbled from the mountain and crashed below. The rumbling became such furious shaking that it could be felt for miles around. A symbol, drawn in magical brown light, appeared. It resembled a mass of rocks.

However, several villages near the Grass-Earth Country border felt this unusual earthquake through the use of Chakra-based techniques. They could feel the raw, primal power of the Earth Rune emanating forth from the mountain. Seeking this power, all of the Ninja villages began dispatching ninja to that location to learn more about the situation. Being the closest to the Rune itself, the Grass Village's ninja reached it first.

Their ninja came across the great mountain with the mighty Earth Rune emblazoned on its side. In the Rune's presence, they could feel its primordial strength permeating the land and the air. After a cursory scouting, two of the four member Grass team left to bring back up. More Grass ninja entered the scene and secured the area. The country began construction of a small lookout station in order to keep watch over this unknown, mystical phenomenon.

Elsewhere, a bespectacled ninja travelled down the corridors of an underground safe house. The walls were earthen and lit only by the light of torches placed at key points throughout the compound. He entered a door to report to his master. Inside the room was a single man with pale white skin, almost like an albino. He had long unkempt hair and eyes which were slitted like that of a snake's. This master cast a sinister, intimidating aura, as though he was not human.

"Lord Orochimaru, there has been an incident in the Grass County," reported this messenger, Kabuto.

"Oh really? Do tell," said Orochimaru.

"The Grass Village's Jonin have discovered a strange emblem on one of the mountains by the Grass-Earth Country border. It gives off a great supernatural power. The Grass Village intends to harness this emblem's power to take its place among the Great Villages."

"I see, do the other villages know about this symbol?" asked Orochimaru.

"Indeed," replied Kabuto. "Each village is making moves to take it for themselves; the Rock Village, the Sand Village... Even villages as far away as the Cloud are moving as well as your old village, the Leaf."

"What of the Rain Village?" asked Orochimaru.

"They are moving out as well," said Kabuto. "There have been a few altercations with the Rain Ninja in the Grass Country."

"So that organisation wants to get its hands on it too," remarked Orochimaru. "Well, we can't have that now, can we?"

So, the struggle for the Earth Rune began. As word of the Rune's existence spread, each village intensified efforts to acquire it. Being the country which held the mountain, the Grass Country became the battlefield on which it and the other countries would fight for the Rune. All throughout the Grass country, ninja from other villages started to infiltrate the area.

Eventually, such investigations led to the various ninja groups coming into conflict. A Sand Village squad bumped into a Rain Village squad near the Grass-Rain border. The ninja hurled shuriken and kunai at each other, each projectile colliding with the other midair or missing. A male Sand Ninja fired off hand signs and produced a whooshing tornado. The whirling winds scooped up loose dirt and grass, eventually doing the same to an enemy ninja and hurling him to the air.

A female Rain ninja fired off her own set of hand signs. The jutsu conjured a massive wall of water which washed over the enemy team and flattened them. A Sand Ninja pounced on her with kunai drawn. The kunoichi parried with one of her own, clanging the weapons together. Another Sand ninja hurled more shuriken, missing with several before grazing his Rain ninja target.

As the skirmishes took place, chaos descended into the wilderness of the Grass Country. Despite the heightened alert status, it was impossible for the Grass Village to keep all these foreign ninja out of their country. The Sound Village, Orochimaru's personal army, felled a trio of guards at the lookout station near the Rune's mountain. Orochimaru himself unleashed snakes from his mouth which bit and injected a lethal dose of poison into a Grass ninja.

"Here it is!" cried one of the Sound ninja.

Orochimaru followed the call to the Rune, which glowed with primordial strength on the mountain side. "What power!" he remarked, with a smile of smug satisfaction. "Not even I could fathom the kinds of jutsu I can create with this! Seal the Rune immediately!"

The Sound ninja opened a scroll before the Rune. On this piece of paper was a circular symbol, written in ink, with five wavy prongs. This symbol channelled the Chakra put into it, circling it around to form a seal. The ninja fired off a series of hand signs which caused the Rune to peel off and become drawn to the centre. However, the Rune started to resist, halting itself from being pulled in. The ninja grew concerned by this uncharacteristic resistance.

"Hurry up! What's taking so long?" asked Orochimaru.

"The Rune is resisting our sealing jutsu!" reported the ninja.

The Rune snapped back onto the mountain and rose higher along its side. The ground shook violently, as though the Rune was enraged by that sealing attempt. The mountain grew a set of stony arms and roared in fury. It shook the ground with enough for to make several ninja tumble to the floor. The mountain dropped a hammer fist on Orochimaru and Kabuto, who narrowly leapt away to escape.

The mountain turned to other ninja, who were unlucky enough to be flattened by the second hammer fist. The Earth Rune suddenly swung back at Orochimaru, blasting him into the air. "Lord..." attempted Kabuto, before receiving the same treatment.

The Earth Rune, infuriated by the attempt to imprison it, roared as though crying out for blood. It formed fists and smashed the ground as hard as it could. The earth shook from its eternal might and cracked open for miles ahead. Several unlucky Sound ninja fell in, while others struggled to avoid a similar fate. With their focus wholly on survival, they were unable to stop the Rune as it lumbered away.

The enraged Earth Rune stampeded across the country side, destroying everything in its path. By simply passing through, it flattened entire sections of a forest as though the trees were like blades of grass. With every step it took, the ground shuddered violently. It approached a nameless Grass country farming village, stirring panic from the denizens. As the Earth Rune entered its limits, it crushed a small home like a mere child's toy.

At the Grass Village, the situation did not escape the notice of its ruling council. "We have to stop that thing!" demanded one of the elder ninja in an emergency meeting. "If it gets to our village, there won't be anything left of it!"

Indeed, the Grass Village recalled every ninja they could muster and assembled an army to confront the Rune. Even with hundreds and thousands of ninja, they were but flies to it. Kunai bounced off of the monstrosity, useless against the rock even with exploding tags going off. In combinations, Grass ninja blasted it with elemental attacks ranging from fire to lightning, but to no avail either.

The Rune slammed the ground knocking nearly all of them down. It raised stone spikes from the ground, skewering many more. When the destruction was over, the entire village had been flattened. This village, built up over generations, was destroyed in but a few minutes. Satisfied with the destruction it had wrought, the Rune continued on its way.

It continued on south-westward to the Rain Country, where it left more destruction in its wake. Although it never went to the Rain's Hidden Village, the Earth Rune veered towards another, the Sand Village. Ninja from the Sand and Fire Countries, as part of an alliance, banded together to stop the Rune before it razed the Sand Village to the ground.

The ninja of the Sand and Leaf villages waited tensely at the front line just outside of the Sand Village. Among these ninja were three Sand ninja known as the Sand Trio. The first was Gaara, a red-headed boy who carried a sandstone gourd on his back. The second, Kankuro, carried his puppet, Crow, wrapped in bandages on his back. The last, the female of their team, was Temari, who carried a giant folded fan on her back.

"So what is this thing we're going to fight?" asked Kankuro.

"Didn't you listen to the briefing? Baki told us that that thing is a mountain," scolded Temari.

"Duh, I heard that!" replied Kankuro. "What I mean is how can a mountain move all the way from the Grass Country to attack the Sand Village, let alone attack several villages on the way?"

"There's some kind of supernatural emblem on it that's animating it," replied Temari. "Whatever power it produces, it is NOT Chakra. It is something far older and more powerful."

The Sand and Leaf ninja line could feel the ground starting to tremble, heralding the arrival of the Earth Rune. The ninja perked up, ready to fight. The ground's shaking intensified, but the ninja kept their composure. The Earth Rune's mountain became visible as it crested a dune of sand. Once in range, several ninja began launching exploding kunai at the mountain. The small knives were but harmless pin pricks and the explosions more like firecrackers.

"Take this," said Gaara.

A mass of sand trailed out of Gaara's gourd like wisps of dust. As though with a mind of its own, it lashed out and grabbed the side of the mountain. Since the target was so abnormally huge, Gaara was only able to hold onto a small portion of it. He clenched his outstretched hand to crush the rock. The sand tore off and crushed a mass of stone, but it was a drop of water compared to an ocean.

Suddenly, the sand began moving in a way Gaara had not expected. It was drawn to the mountain, as though being pulled in. An invisible force started to pack the sand on the crushed area. "Gaara, pull back your sand!" cried Temari. "Hurry!"

Gaara heeded his sister's advice without hesitation, pulling his sand back to his gourd. However, a portion of it had been assimilated into the mountain, to reform the part which he had destroyed. "That thing is absorbing the sand and rocks to repair its body. If we use earth-style jutsu, we'd only be feeding it," observed Kankuro.

"If we can't use earth, then let's use wind!" said Temari.

She swung her fan, blowing a massive hurricane-force wind upon it. The winds formed nearly invisible blades of Chakra which slashed the side of the mountain, tearing off chunks of rock. However, the Earth Rune constantly retrieved sand and rocks from the area, reforming its mountain as quickly as it was lost. In a rage, the Earth Rune hurled boulders at the Sand Trio.

The trio scattered and avoided being flattened. Kakuro's puppet, Crow, stabbed away at the mountain tirelessly, but to no avail. Its poisoned needles and stabbing weapons were of little use against lifeless stone. "Crow's not going to work against it either," remarked Kankuro.

The Earth Rune slapped several Sand ninja away with a single massive swipe. "He's breaking through!" cried one Sand ninja before being swatted away.

Another had been punched away from a Sand commander. "It's going to reach the village!" he told a messenger.

The messenger vanished away to deliver the message. The Sand and Leaf ninja casualties piled up. Everywhere, Sand ninja and their Leaf allies were sprawled on the ground. Several were dead and many more were incapacitated by wounds. The medical ninja were swamped, trying to keep up with the injured and death toll. The massed army was no match for the might of a Rune's full power unleashed.

A ninja with a partially covered face appeared next to the Sand Trio. "I have a mission for you three," said the ninja. "You must go to the Leaf Village and warn them of what has happened here and help them defend their village should the monster go for them."

"...But Baki-sensei!" said Kankuro.

"We have to face it. Our last line of defence has fallen. The Earth Rune will reach our village and destroy it. The only thing we can do now is salvage what we can," admitted Baki.

"Very well," agreed Gaara.

"Don't die on us, sensei," said Temari.

"Heh, don't worry, I'm not easy to take down," said Baki. "Now, go warn the Leaf Village."

The Sand Trio departed from the battlefield for the Leaf Village. They made haste to the home of their allies, passing through the vast deserts of their home country. Some distance away, they looked back and saw a cloud of sand and dust rise from the direction of their village. Having no choice, they pressed onward to warn the Leaf Village about the fate of their Hidden Village.

* * *

In the meantime, Sakura and her friends approached the entrance to the Leaf Village. "So this is a ninja village?" asked Marcus.

"Yep," said Kero. "I've never been to the Leaf Village before, but the ninja who fought with us came from here."

The group walked down the main road which passed the front gate. From the sheer size of the Leaf Village, it was more like a city than a village. The buildings were wood and plaster, with roofs having shingled planks which hung over the sides. In the distance was a monument like Mount Rushmore. The faces of Hokage gone by were carved onto a mountain as tribute to their tenures. There were five faces in all, with the rightmost one being the newest Hokage and the only woman.

Sakura stopped a random ninja, a boy with a mop hair cut and bushy eyebrows. He wore an unusual green jumpsuit. "Hello, can you direct us to the leader of this village? This is an urgent matter."

"You must want to speak to the Hokage," said the ninja.

A second ninja, a pink-haired girl in a red Chinese dress, came across the group. The first ninja noticed her. "Hi Sakura!"

"Nice to see you too, Lee," said the girl, Sakura Haruno. Sakura the kunoichi noticed Sakura Avalon's group. "Hey, I remember you! Didn't we fight in the Omnipotence War?"

"Yeah, Sakura Haruno, right?" asked Hikaru.

"Uh huh," replied the pink-haired ninja. "What brings you here?"

"Trouble," remarked Kero.

Kero told Sakura Haruno about their adventure to retrieve the Runes. "You should talk to Lady Hokage. We have been hearing many stories about something like what you describe. I'm going to her office right now. It's just down this road. You can't miss it."

At that moment, the Sand Trio entered the scene. Gaara recognized Rock Lee and Sakura Haruno and gestured to his siblings. "The Sand ninja are here," remarked Sakura Haruno.

"We need to speak the Hokage immediately," announced Temari.

"Yes, she's just down this road," informed Sakura Haruno. "Everyone just follow us."

She led the Sand ninja and the other Sakura's group to the office of Leaf Village's Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. They met her assistant, Shizune, who directed the Sand ninja and Sakura Avalon to the Hokage's office. At the desk was a woman in a green overcoat . She had blonde hair tied back into a pony tail and was quite young for someone with such a senior position. Everyone tried to speak at once, but their combined voices made it impossible to understand what they were saying.

She slammed her fist on the desk. "One at a time!" She reclined in her chair and sighed. "Sand ninja, you start first."

"The mountain has broken through our lines," reported Kankuro. "By now, it has levelled the Sand Village. It is likely that the mountain will come to this village within a few days as retaliation against your ninja. We have been ordered to help in the defence."

"So, our village is next," remarked Tsunade pensively. "This isn't good. Thank you for the report and your assistance. If we get through this alive, please thank the Sand Village for their cooperation. Now for the rest of you..."

Sakura the Cardcaptor told Tsunade about the Runes. "We think one of these Runes might be responsible for that rampaging mountain," said Kero.

"I see," remarked Tsunade. "If you've been capturing Runes, you must be properly equipped to do so."

"Yeah," replied Madison. "We have special capsules that can trap the Rune, but only myself, Sakura, and Kero can use them. We need to weaken it first."

"Of course," said Tsunade. "In that case, we the Leaf Ninja will delay the Rune as long as possible so you can trap it."

A ninja messenger appeared in a puff of smoke. "Lady Tsunade, our scouts have spotted the mountain entering the neutral lands between the Wind Country and the Fire Country. At its current speed, it will reach our country's southwest border tomorrow morning."

"Very well, mobilize our forces to form two lines; one outside the Leaf Village and the other near the border. Have all the villages in the mountain's path evacuated immediately."

With Tsunade's orders, the Leaf Village mobilized to prepare for the juggernaut that was the Earth Rune. In villages along the border and beyond, people packed up their belongings and filed out to safety. The Earth Rune's mountain loomed in the distance. Its arrival in the Fire Country was inevitable. Sakura Avalon and her team rushed to the border to launch a first strike, hoping to end the battle before it even started.

As they approached, the mountain towered over them like a massive monolith to the power of earth. The Rune God Terrasque rammed into it mountain like a stampeding elephant. His initial strike put a massive crack into the mountain side. Rayearth, Selece, and Windam bombarded the mountain with spells of flame, ice, and wind. The attacks widened the crack further, until the stone stopped cracking and began to reseal.

"He's recovering!" observed Fuu.

"Kero, go for the Rune. We'll keep him busy," said Yoshino.

Lilamon, Yoshino, and Madison combined powers to conjure the largest and longest vines they could muster through the Powers of Nature and the Clow. These massive vines wrapped around the mountain's base and squeezed tightly with the audible crunching of tension. They slowed down the mountain noticeably. Rise Greymon and Sakura pelted the mountain with cannon fire and the Boom Card, blowing off chunks from it.

Using these distractions, Kero snuck into place and activated the capsule. The Earth Rune became visible on the mountain side, as though being sucked in by a vacuum cleaner. However, the Rune held on for dear life, despite part of it having been peeled off. A stream of rocks lashed at Kero, knocking him out of place. He dropped the capsule, which Marcus caught just before it hit the ground.

Sakura caught Kero, saving him from a crash landing onto the ground. "Are you okay Kero?" asked Sakura as she slinked into a portal opened with the Through card.

"Yeah, I'll be alright," he replied upon reappearing in a safer location.

Madison popped up nearby just seconds later. "That was no good. The moment I went for the Rune, it came after me," said Kero.

"Yeah, and you only made it angrier," remarked Madison.

* * *

A Leaf scout watched as the Rune slapped Rise Greymon into the ground. With the Cardcaptors' team down, the Rune continued for the Leaf Village. "Our allies have failed. Get ready," he told his superior on returning.

"Very well," said the Leaf commander. "Prepare our army."

When the Earth Rune reached the abandoned villages, it flattened the houses like cardboard. These homes, which housed generations of farmers, were destroyed in seconds with an uncaring ease. The Earth Rune approached the Leaf's first line. The Leaf ninja opened the fight by hurling exploding kunai and long range jutsu at it. Blasts of exhaled fire and explosions charred the rocky face of the mountain.

The Earth Rune hurled boulders at the ninja, forcing them to flee or be crushed. One of the ninja, a man with spiky grey hair, removed his headband to unveil a red eye with circling commas. The ninja held down his arm and brought Chakra to bear, forming it into a powerful mass of dancing electricity. The ninja watched as other ninja unsuccessfully scaled the mountain and attack it.

His buddy, an older version of Rock Lee, was somewhat perturbed by this development. "You're going to use that already?" asked the ninja, Gai.

"We don't have any choice," said the first ninja, Kakashi. "We have to pull out all the stops."

"I'll cover for you," said Gai, flashing a smile and a flashing thumbs-up as a guarantee.

Gai charged at the mountain and unleashed a barrage of kicks and punches. They seemed to have some effect because the Earth Rune started lashing rocks at him. Gai leapt over the first and the second of the rocks as they came. With a mighty kick, Gai shattered a third to rubble before a tendril of rocks grabbed his foot and whipped him in circles like a rag doll.

The Earth Rune released him like an Olympic athlete doing a hammer throw. "Now Kakashi!" cried Gai, sailing through the air and hitting the dirt some distance away.

Kakashi dashed up the mountain's exposed side and plunged that jutsu, the Chidori, into the surface. The sheer power of this attack bored a deep hole right through the mountain, dealing significant damage. Kakashi used every drop of power he could to drive the jutsu in as deep as he could. Eventually, the Earth Rune retaliated, lashing at him like with Gai and knocking him off of its side. Fortunately, Gai recovered in time to catch him and land both of them to safety.

The Earth Rune proved too much for even the Leaf ninja to handle. It broke through their line, flattening hundreds of ninja in its wake. Too disorganized and scattered to follow, the Leaf's line had to retreat to regroup and recover casualties. The Earth Rune continued on its way, tearing up everything in its path. It soon came within visual range of the second Leaf line.

One ninja was shocked to see the true identity of his enemy. "Whoa! Is that what we're up against? What a drag!" remarked the ninja, Shikamaru. "If the other villages couldn't stop it, how can we?"

"Yes, our enemy is a powerful one, but we must persevere," said Rock Lee.

"Can we even beat something like that?" asked a shy kunoichi named Hinata. "Like Shikamaru said, how can be we beast something that took down two other ninja villages so easily?"

"Ah, but we will succeed where the others have failed," said Rock Lee. "We have the power of youth on our side!"

"Well, whatever power you have, I hope it's enough to take on that thing," remarked Neji, yet another ninja. Veins popped up around Neji's eyes as he activated his clan's eye jutsu, the Byakugan. With these unique eyes active, he was able to see the mountain from such a far distance and even inside the mountain itself. "I can see the Rune inside the mountain, but I can't see any Chakra animating the mountain."

"I have heard that the Rune does not use Chakra like we do," informed Lee. "That is probably why you can't see any."

The Leaf's line clashed with the mountain. As the Leaf ninja fought, survivors from the first line closed in from behind, trapping the Earth Rune in a pincers formation. Trapped between two enemy groups, the Earth Rune was attacked from the back and the front. It lashed out with rocks and earthen fury wherever its enemies were. Rock Lee leapt up the side and began throwing kicks and punches at it.

As Sakura Avalon's team approached the battlefield, kunai and elemental jutsu were flying through the air. "They got the Rune surrounded. Let's try again," suggested Kero.

"Right!" said Yoshino.

Lilamon set Yoshino on the ground and continued on to confront the Earth Rune. She unleashed a shower of energy bolts which tore off sections of the mountain. Rise Greymon lobbed shots to support, blasting more rock off of the mountain. The Leaf ninja followed by sending elemental blasts at the Earth Rune. Of the three attackers, the Earth Rune decided to focus on the ninja, whipping a mass of rocks which floored them.

In the midst of these distractions, Kero used the capsule on the Rune. Like before, the capsule began dragging the Earth Rune out of the rock and peeling it off of the surface. "That little guy's trying to trap the Rune," shouted Neji. "Cover him until he's done!"

A Chinese kunoichi hopped onto the branches of a nearby tree. She hurled dozens and dozens of kunai, all of which had exploding tags. They exploded and ripped off massive chunks of rock. Neji and Rock Lee rushed in after the smoke cleared and pounded the mountain with punches and kicks. They climbed higher and struck higher points on the enemy's body.

The Earth Rune lashed out with stony spikes. Lee leapt away from one while Neji sidestepped another meant for him. The Rune shook its body, trying to throw them off. When that failed, it then dropped an avalanche on them. Despite their bad position, the two ninja managed to leap over the rocks. As they landed from a jump, more rocks fell down at them, but were intercepted and blasted by exploding kunai.

"Nice save, Tenten!" cried Rock Lee, batting a thumbs up. When they landed, the Earth Rune shook its body, successfully knocking both him and Neji off. They righted themselves in the air and landed on their feet. "Whoa, that was a close one!"

Again, Kero took advantage of the distractions to trap the Earth Rune. Again, it lashed out at him, hoping to end his attack. Fuu erected a barrier of wind around him, warding off rocks from him. The Earth Rune whipped out more rocks, which Rayearth blocked with its own body. "Arrgh... Don't worry about me. Keep going, Kero!" cried Hikaru as Rayearth crashed to the ground.

The Earth Rune lashed out at Kero, successfully slapping rocks into him which the broke spell. "No!" cried Sakura, catching her Kero. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," said Kero.

However, the battle was not going well for the Leaf ninja. "The mountain is breaking through our line!" cried a random ninja. "It's going to reach the village!"

Alarmed by the desperation of their situation, the ninja stepped up the intensity of their attacks. Try as they might, the Earth Rune was unhindered in its advance. Neji spun in place, releasing bluish wisps of Chakra from his body. They pummelled the enemy's stony body, but didn't even faze it. A different group of ninja spewed roaring flames directly into the enemy's front, but it continued moving forward, despite the massive fireball.

The Earth Rune finally reached the Leaf Village's outer wall and smashed it as though it was cardboard. "It's reached the village! We have to stop it!" cried a random ninja.

The Earth Rune wasted no time in preying upon the Leaf Village. It triggered a mighty earthquake, violently rocking the buildings. Furniture and lamps tumbled onto the ground of vacant homes. The Rune hurled rocks at others, crushing them as flat as a pancake. More of the Rune's power rippled through the Leaf Village and the buildings shuddered at the wake of that force of nature.

"I'm going to try again," said Kero. "This time, you have to protect me, no matter what it takes!"

"Okay, we've got your back," said Marcus.

Rise Greymon flew to the mountain's top and blasted off chunks from the summit. Its attention diverted, the Rune retaliated with a shower of rocks. Rise Greymon shot them out of the air while dodging those he couldn't destroy in time. He fired again from a better position, igniting an explosion along the mountainside. The Rune hurled more rocks, yet was still unable to hit such an agile Digimon.

Kero used the capsule again, pulling the Rune to the surface of the rock. In retaliation, the Rune started to aim rocks at him. Sakura remained beside him and raised the Shield Card's protective barrier to defend him. It warded off the rocks, but strained the Cardcaptor heavily to maintain. Madison summoned the Earthy and used it to deflect rocks and take pressure off of her friend.

Terrasque charged into the mountain with tremendous force. It shuddered, becoming stunned momentarily. Kero's capsule began pulling in portions of the Rune, yet still it clung on for dear life. Yoshino and Lalamon grew vines from the ground and caught the mountain within them. Fuu conjured a whirlwind which further stalled the Rune's advance.

"It's weakening! I can feel it! Just a little more!" said Kero seeing the Rune peel off millimetre by millimetre. The Rune lobbed several rocks at Kero, but Mach Gaogamon appeared in front and deflected them. Then, the Rune finally snapped out of the mountain. The capsule swallowed it whole. "YEAH!"

Without the Rune to support it, the mountain crumbled under the stress it had been placed under. Rocks crumbled from up high and rolled down its side like an avalanche. The ninja jumped around frantically to avoid being flattened. The avalanche buried the ruined buildings of Leaf Village and but only light damage in areas beyond. Kero held the Rune up high for everyone to see. The ninja cheered upon realizing they had won.

When the situation calmed down, the Cardcaptors and allies met with Tsunade for a debriefing. "The sacrifices we made were great, but the Leaf's shinobi pulled through in the end. Well done. However, this attack by the Earth Rune has left our village, the Sand Village, and others in a perilous situation. The other countries will try to take advantage of our weakened state."

"I feel awful," said Sakura. "If we had known about this sooner, we could have prevented all of this."

"Maybe we can ask the Digital Nations for some relief efforts?" asked Madison.

"Yeah, I'm sure they would be glad to help," said Yoshino.

"Lady Tsunade, is it possible you can spare some ninja to help us against the other Runes?" asked Thomas. "If the other Runes are as tough as this one, we'll need all the help we can get."

"I thought it might come to this, so I prepared for this eventuality," admitted Tsunade. She turned to call someone among the scattered groups of ninja. "Shikamaru, come here." A lackadaisical ninja with black hair tied behind his head approached Tsunade. "This is Shikamaru Nara. He'll lead a squad of ninja to support your group. I'll let him introduce you to his team."

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade," said Madison.

Tsunade left to attend to some relief efforts for the citizens of Leaf Village. In the meantime, Shikamaru led the team to a set of three ninja he had chosen to join his squad. Since the Leaf Village had lost a lot of ninja to death and injury, the pickings were slim. He ultimately settled on an "all-star" team of ninja from each of the major genin squads of his age group. The first was Naruto Uzumaki, a familiar face.

"Whoa, it's you guys! It's great to see you!" said Naruto to Sakura, Madison, and Kero.

"So you're coming with us Naruto?" asked Madison.

"Yeah, believe it!" he replied. "I've been training hard with the Pervy Sage. I'm so ready for this."

"Welcome, great to have you on board," said Kero.

The second ninja was a shy girl with dark blue hair and white eyes. She was quite modestly dressed compared to other kunoichi in her parka-like jacket. When she saw that Naruto was part of her team, her jaw dropped. "That's Hinata Hyuga," introduced Naruto. "She's a bit weird and all, but she's a good ninja, believe it."

Hinata turned beat red. "Hmm, I think she took that as a compliment," remarked Yoshino.

Shikamaru led his group to the last member of his ninja team, the boy with the bowl haircut, green jumpsuit, and leg warmers. "This is Rock Lee, a taijutsu specialist."

"Hello everybody, it is nice to see you again. Whatever it is we're up against, we'll defeat it with the power of youth!" said Lee.

"I'm sure," said Sakura. "Now that everyone's been gathered, let's go back to Crystal Valley."

**END OF CHAPTER**

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**SPOTLIGHT: Ninja Nations (Naruto) **

Politics/Demographics:  
The Ninja Nations are a group of states much like those from Feudal Japan. Each state is run by a feudal lord, making the Ninja Nations government a group of regional monarchies. The Ninja Nations are mostly concerned with each other rather than foreign worlds. The only people known to have had contact with the outside worlds are the ninja of Leaf Village during the Omnipotence War.

Characters/VIPs:  
The most important ninja from the Leaf Village is Tsunade. She is one of the Sannin, three of the best ninja ever produced by the Leaf Village. She is noted for her skill and knowledge of medical jutsu. She was named the Fifth Hokage after the previous Hokage fell during an invasion by the Sound and Sand Villages.

Powers:  
The Ninja Nations use a variant of ki known as "Chakra." Like other forms of ki, this special power flows through special channels in the body. Through hand signs, the ninja can mould Chakra to produce a variety of useful effects. The ninja arts are comprised of the fields of genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu. Genjutsu is the creation of illusions. Taijutsu is martial arts and the optimization of the ninja's body. Ninjutsu is a catch-all category of techniques which include elemental manipulations.

Technology-wise, the Ninja Nations have very limited mass production and industrialization, most of it destroyed by countless wars between the various states. They are a post-industrial society with things such as television and radios, but interestingly, lack firearms.

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**SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Earth Rune **  
Domain: Earth, stability, fertility, fortitude  
Duality: Fertility vs. Barrenness  
Appearance: Brown, rock-like crystals jutting from the ground  
Powers: Controls earth & stone

Description:  
This True Rune represents the fertility of the earth and its ability to support those who live on it. Despite its benefits, the earth can be one of the most destructive things imaginable. It wracks the world with earthquakes, fissures, and avalanches, leaving nothing behind but a barren wasteland. Various ninja attempted to enslave the Earth Rune so in response, it lashed out at them, animating a mountain and destroying everything in its path.


	10. Warlords 3: Jurai Fractured

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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Warlords of Jurai, part 3: Jurai Fractured 

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Ryo-Ohki soared across the surface of Coralia, carrying Aeka to meet Yosho. As they approached the flagship, Funaho, its escorts greeted them. "Please let me through, I am Aeka, the first princess of Jurai. I need to speak with Prince Yosho," announced Aeka.

"Of course your majesty, please allow us to escort you to the Funaho," replied the captain of the leading ships.

The Juraians led Ryo-Ohki directly to Yosho's ship, where they teleported inside. The guards stood at attention as Aeka's group appeared on the Funaho. Yosho was among the men, waiting at the other end of a red carpet. Instead of appearing in the form of the old man, Katsuhito Masaki, Yosho was in his true form, the handsome young prince of Jurai.

"Greetings, brother. Normally, I'd be more formal about this, but this matter is too urgent for that. We need to discuss your invasion of this planet," stated Aeka, getting straight to the point.

"Of course," replied Yosho. "Let's head to the meeting room."

Aeka and Yosho's retinue proceeded to a large room with a single table with many chairs and a monitor at the opposite end. After seating, Aeka hurled questions at her brother. "Brother, why are you doing this? This is not the way of the Juraian Empire. Father was made himself clear about not expanding the empire through military force. Why are you invading these people?" asked Aeka.

"Father? Who cares!" said Yosho, with an uncharacteristic abrasiveness. "He was too weak to impose order upon the Empire. I will create a new one, without the lawlessness of the old."

"There are many innocent people living on this planet. If you invade, you will only spread misery and suffering," informed Aeka. "Is that what you want? To make them suffer?"

"They are but a small price to pay for the new order," replied Yosho.

At that moment, Tory saw an emblem glow on Yosho's forehead. The emblem was merely a white circle, but it gave off great, unearthly power. He jumped out of his seat to sound the alarm. "He's possessed by a Rune!"

"Men, seize them!" ordered Yosho.

Aeka's retinue drew weapons, while Yosho's did the same time. "Brother, stop this! It's not too late, let us remove the Rune and forget this ever happened."

"I'm sorry, sister, but a new Empire awaits us. So long as you exist, you are a threat to my goals. Eliminate them!" ordered Yosho.

Yosho slipped out of the room just moments before the shooting began. The Juraian guards fired at Aeka who raised a log barrier. Tenchi widened the energy blade of his sword, forming a shield from it. When the enemy's weapon overheated, he launched a smooth cut which hacked off the barrel. With his second, Tenchi had cut the guard across the chest. Tenchi cut down more as he pushed for the door. He peeked into the hallway and saw more Juraians coming to intervene.

They opened fire and Tenchi retreated just before a bolt hit the wall next to his head. Ryoko fiddled with the controls and locked them out. Tory immediately opened a Through Card portal in the ground. "In here!" he cried.

* * *

After jumping in, Aeka's retinue reappeared back at Washu's factory, fortunate to have made it out safely. "You're back! How did it go?" asked Mihoshi.

"Terrible," replied Ryoko. "They attacked us."

"Yosho was being controlled by a Rune," informed Tory. "He won't listen to reason."

Dominic was dejected. "I guess it was a bust..."

Aeka was still miffed at Yosho's decision to attack them. "I'm not done yet; I'm going to take this matter up with father!"

"We're going to meet the Emperor of Jurai?" asked Tenchi.

"Yes," said Aeka. "As you heard, my brother isn't doing this out of his free will."

"Yeah, there's a Rune controlling him," said Tory.

"The UF can't possibly take on our fleets," stated Aeka. "They would only be sending their men to their deaths. We need my father to stop my brother."

"I see, in that case, I think it would be a good idea for the UF to send some of their ships to Harmonia," said Tory.

"Harmonia?" asked Dominic.

"Yes, where we're from. It's likely that Yosho will devastate the UF with his attack. That way, we'll preserve some of your forces for rebuilding."

"Yeah, but that's easier said than done," replied Dominic. "I might be able to convince my commanding officer, but the others?"

"You have to try," said Tenchi.

"Hmm... Okay, I don't know how effective I can be, but I'll try," said Dominic.

Dominic left Washu's factory on his motorbike for the Izumo, where he reported everything that happened. Jurgens was conflicted over the recommendations of Aeka and her friends. "Do you truly believe that this is the best course of action?" asked Jurgens.

"Yes, the Juraians are too powerful for us," replied Dominic. "The princess knows what we are facing."

"I see, I'll trust your judgement," said Jurgens. "I'll get as many of the UF brass to go along with this plan."

As Jurgens and Dominic enacted Aeka's plan, her friends were hard at work at their end. Ed and Al transmuted the scrapped remains of Machine Rune robots into fortifications for the factory. They reinforced the walls with an extra layer of metal to harden them against bombardment. Winry screwed a brace onto the roof for the placement of a portal device.

Some of Washu's robots carried parts to the roof, where Winry helped them to assemble and construct everything. Afterwards, Washu's robot remotely activated the portal and out came Aeka's ship, the Ryu-Oh. Like other Juraian ships, it had a hardened, rounded chassis of unknown material held together by curved struts of wood. Aeka appeared on the roof.

"The Ryu-Oh's ready, how is everything at your end?" asked Aeka.

"Good, the portal will be ready soon," replied Winry.

Aeka checked up on the Elric Brothers. "How are the fortifications coming?"

"Very well," replied Al. "The front side is all done. We're moving onto the sides and soon the rear."

"Okay, keep going. We need this place ready in case Yosho decides to attack," said Aeka.

Aeka's friends continued to prepare the factory. When they finished, Dominic came by to check on their status. "We're almost ready on our end," said Aeka.

"So how will our ships proceed?" asked Dominic.

Aeka showed Dominic a map of the area. The UF forces were going to rendezvous with her at the badlands west of the factory. She would position the Ryu-Oh there to mark the correct location. Afterwards, the UF force would fly east to the factory and enter the portal. The portal itself will be guarded by Ryoko in Ryo-Ohki. The ships, around thirty in number, will enter in an orderly fashion.

Satisfied, Dominic took a copy of the map and anointed it with the details of the plan. After Dominic left, Aeka set out in Ryo-Oh to wait at the rendezvous. After waiting for several hours, the first wave of UF ships appeared on sensors. The leader, the Izumo, a large black ship like a stealth plane, hailed the Ryu-Oh. "Nice to see you, Izumo, and you too, Lieutenant," addressed Aeka. "The gate is to the east. Please hurry."

"Of course," said Jurgens. "We'll go in once everyone is safe on the other side."

"Okay, good luck to you all," said Aeka.

The ships and KLF squadrons of the UF's first wave travelled to the portal without incident. After several more minutes, the second wave appeared on the Ryu-Oh's sensors. As before, the ships proceeded in an orderly manner. However, trouble reared its ugly head. The Ryu-Oh's sensors detected a lone Juraian patrol craft at the very edge of its range.

Aeka watched the ship's movements apprehensively until the pilot decided to move in for a closer look. "Not good!" she thought and radioed the Izumo. "I've just detected a Juraian patrol craft. Keep the line moving. I'll shoot it down."

"Okay," said Dominic. "Be careful."

Aeka moved the Ryu-Oh to intercept. When it came within weapon range, Aeka immediately opened fire. The Ryu-Oh's guns lit the sky with blue beams. The patrol craft went down in flames quickly, unable to withstand such firepower. However, Aeka knew that now, time was of the essence. It was certain that patrol craft had sent out a distress signal to alert more ships to the area.

Moments later, the third UF wave arrived, earlier than planned and before the second wave could fully escape. However, a trio of Juraian rapid response ships appeared on the radar, flying at top speed to the area. Aeka and Ryoko broke from their posts and went to engage the ships. Beams of blue and gold energy streamed back and forth as the two sides exchanged fire.

The Ryu-Oh shielded itself with three Light Hawk Wings, near-impervious barriers of white light. The beams went back and forth, but attrition brought down the enemy, unable to penetrate the Ryu-Oh's defences. The enemy ship took a nasty hit and went down in flames. Another fell to Ryo-Ohki's weapons, as did the last. Although they saved the UF ships for now, that was only the beginning of their troubles.

More Juraian ships appeared on the Ryu-Oh and Ryo-Ohki's sensors, this time numbering in the dozens. "Izumo, we're in trouble," said Aeka over the radio. "I detected over a dozen enemy ships closing on our position. We can't stop that many on our own. We need assistance."

"Okay," replied Jurgens from the other end. "We weren't expecting to go without a fight." Jurgens' comm officer switched the channel to the other ships. "Ships from the third wave, break off and defend the second while it goes through the portal."

The third wave broke from its formation to intercept the Juraian ships with the Ryu-Oh and Ryo-Ohki. They launched dozens of KLF squads into the air to fight off Yosho's pursuit squadron. They exchanged beams and missiles, filling the sky with explosions and flashes of light. The Ryu-Oh fired, searing the top of an enemy scout ship black while opening breaches.

Elsewhere, a Juraian ship fired at one of the UF carriers. The beam rocked it, prompting return fire which hit a Light Hawk Wing uselessly. KLF squads wound up to the enemy's top side and scorched burn marks on the chassis. The enemy returned fire, missing the agile KLF. The Juraians renewed fire at the carrier, severing one of its wings. The UF ship lost altitude and crashed onto the ground.

Ryo-Ohki intervened with guns blazing. The Izumo joined in, firing all weapons at the Juraian ship. Through their combined firepower, they felled the enemy. The Izumo then took a hit from another enemy, which knocked out an engine on its wing. "Damn!" cursed Jurgens.

As the engine smoked, the Izumo lost altitude and made a crash landing on the ground. Fortunately, the crash left it largely intact, though grounded. The Ryo-Ohki returned fire, blowing the enemy out of the sky. At that moment, a new ship entered the battlefield. "An unidentified ship is entering the battlefield," reported Ryoko to the Izumo as she patched video feed to the ship.

The ship was much like a bird with green feathers on its wings. It launched a squadron of KLFs which attacked the Juraian ships. "It's the Gekko!" remarked Dominic. "They've come to help us!"

"I hate to admit it, but I'm sure glad to see them," admitted Jurgens.

One special KLF, the Nirvash, zoomed around the body of a Juraian ship. The enemy fired at it, but was too slow to track such a manoeuvrable target. The Nirvash peppered the enemy with beams, eventually putting a hole through the ship's top. A missile went directly into the hole and tore the enemy to pieces with an explosion from within. The enemy ship went down, leaving a trail of thick black smoke in its wake.

The Gekko's captain sent a message to the Izumo. The video feed of a lovely Japanese woman appeared on the screen. "Seems like you had a little trouble there, Captain Jurgens. I hope you don't mind us dropping by unannounced."

"Not at all, Captain Talho. You always seem to have impeccable timing," remarked Jurgens. "We'd fight back, but our ship can't fly anymore."

Jurgens contacted the Ryu-Oh for some advice. "Okay, I'll tow you to the portal," said Aeka.

Aeka slowly brought the Ryu-Oh above the grounded ship Izumo. After a few seconds, the Izumo's crew heard clanging, as though something was being attached. The Ryu-Oh had clamped on tightly and lifted upwards with the Izumo in tow. Elsewhere, the UF forces downed the last of the enemy. Though the UF won, the battle proved costly. Only two ships and a few KLFs from the third wave had survived.

The Gekko joined the convoy in escaping Coralia. The Ryu-Oh passed through the portal, the last to flee the scene. As its last act, the portal generator opened the largest portal it could over the factory. The large disk swallowed the building and everything in it whole, leaving no evidence or trace of its existence for the Secessionists to find.

The UF ships and the factory found themselves in a vast empty plain to the southwest of Crystal Valley. This area was once known as the Grasslands during the peak of the Harmonian civilization. During those days, many different tribes lived here, but the Runes wiped them out long ago. The ships landed on various areas of the Grasslands to begin maintenance and repairs.

The Ryu-Oh deposited the Izumo on an empty patch of land near the other rescued ships. The Ryu-Oh reverted into a tree rooted near the factory. Dominic exited the Izumo and greeted Aeka. "Thank you, Princess. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be alive now."

"You're welcome," said Aeka. "Now, we must think of our next move."

"Yeah, we need a place where our men can stay while we make repairs and modifications to the ships," said Dominic. "This area doesn't have Trappar Waves to power our ships."

Tory emerged from the factory just in time to overhear the conversation. "If you need a place to stay, you can use the factory or one of several empty buildings in Crystal Valley to the northeast. Whatever you choose, please don't get in the way of the archaeologists."

"What will you do now, Tory?" asked Aeka.

"I'm heading out to return the Moon Rune to the vault. Now that you mention it, this would be a good time to show you it..."

"I'll coordinate repairs," said Dominic. "We'll need the Izumo in top condition before we go to the Juraian Emperor."

* * *

While Aeka went on a tour of Crystal Valley, the UF refugees began repair work with a priority on the Izumo for the mission to Jurai. The ship had sustained great damage to its wing-mounted thrusters. As they checked the affected parts, the damage also extended to the wing. Nevertheless, the men and women worked diligently to repair their flagship.

A young couple exited the Gekko and approached the factory to meet the people who coordinated the UF escape. The boy was brown haired with a look of youthful wide-eyed innocence. His girlfriend was an albino with turquoise hair and a gentle disposition. The two wanted to explore the strange new land. They were Renton Thurston and Eureka respectively, the pilots of the Nirvash LFO.

Eureka looked at the warm, verdant plain of the Grasslands. "It's beautiful!" she remarked.

"Yeah, I don't think I've seen a place this green except Earth," said Renton. "It's all rock and Scub Coral back home."

Eureka laid on the ground and basked in the warmth of the Harmonian sun. Renton laid down right beside her and watched the clouds drift by. Eureka climbed on top of her boyfriend and gave him a kiss. "Let's go for a walk. I want to meet some of the people here."

"Yeah, let's go," said Renton.

He tried to get up, but couldn't with Eureka pinning him down. "Oh excuse me!" she said, suppressing a slight giggle as she got up.

The two walked over to the factory, which they noticed before they entered the gate. They spotted the Elric Brothers sparring just outside as Winry watched. Ed threw a punch. Al saw it coming and blocked. He aimed a kick for Ed's knee, which Ed blocked by raising his leg. Ed went for a left side kick but Al caught his foot. Al stepped in and swept his remaining leg, sending Ed tumbling to the ground. Al extended a hand to help his brother get up.

"Wow, great fight!" remarked Renton.

"Oh hi, we didn't notice you there," said Al. "I'm Alphonse Elric, but you can call me Al. This is my brother Ed, and she's Winry. You must have come with the UF ships..."

"We're really with the Gekko, not the UF," said Renton. "I'm Renton Thurston and this is Eureka."

"Hi!" said Eureka.

"We were going for a walk and found you here," said Renton.

"Oh, don't mind us, we train like this all the time," said Ed.

"You and Al are so good," remarked Eureka. "You must practice a lot."

"Oh yeah, we've been at it ever since we were little boys," replied Ed.

"Your teacher must have been wise," said Eureka.

"Yeah," said Al. "She taught us some many things... not just alchemy."

"Alchemy?" asked Renton. "Like turning lead into gold?"

"Well, sort of," replied Al.

Renton and Eureka talked about random subjects with the Elric Brothers and Winry. When the two were done, they decided to enter the factory to meet the other people who helped saved the UF forces from the Juraians. The two bumped into Sasami as she was travelling through the hallways. "Oh, we have guests!" remarked the junior Juraian princess.

"Hi," said Eureka. "We're just here to take a look."

"Oh, there's not much to see here," said Sasami. "I'm Sasami, crown princess of Jurai."

"Ah, so you're the princess of the Juraians?" asked Renton.

"Yeah," replied Sasami. "Would you like a snack? I can make some cookies and milk for you."

"Sure, that would be nice," replied Eureka.

A few days later, the UF finished repairs and upgrades to the Izumo. Aeka returned the Ryu-Oh to its ship form and slowly clamped it onto the Izumo. Since the Izumo lacked any kind of faster-than-light engine, Aeka needed to carry the Izumo to Jurai. The clamps connected with a dull clang, holding the UF ship tightly. The Ryu-Oh lifted off into sky and soared through the portal above Washu's factory.

Just a few minutes later, they emerged above a serene world of lush greenery and beautiful ivy-covered palaces. Aeka brought the Ryu-Oh down gently and released the Izumo. She disembarked and met with Dominic. "So this is your home planet?" asked Dominic.

"Yes, you're standing in front of the Juraian Royal Palace."

The Juraian Royal Palace was not like other palaces. It was a great structure carved out of the interior of a massive tree, the largest Dominic had ever seen. The tree was known as Tenju, and was the largest tree Dominic had ever seen. Unlike outside, the interior was more like what Dominic would expect a palace to look like. It was spacious with clean stone walls. It was decorated by landscape art and portraits of kings, queens, and other nobles of the past.

"Sasami!" said a noblewoman as she ran up to greet her.

"Mommy!" said Sasami as the woman hugged her and Aeka.

"Oh, is this you mother Aeka?" asked Dominic.

"Yes, this is Misaki Jurai, Second Empress of Jurai, and the Supreme Commander of Jurai's Royal Bodyguards," introduced Aeka.

Dominic kneeled. "It is an honour to meet you, your Majesty."

"Oh, don't be so formal," said Misaki. "What brings you here?"

Dominic stood up. "To make a long story short, Prince Yosho is invading my world, Coralia."

"Yes, that's why we're here. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen. So now, we're here to take the matter up with father," said Aeka.

"I see..." said Misaki. "Your father's in the throne room."

The group travelled there, where an ornately robed man sat on the throne. He had a stern face framed by violet hair and a bushy beard. He seemed to be a strict father, especially compared to his more permissive wife, Misaki. He seemed quite intimidating as well, one who was likely very difficult to approach even if he wasn't the Emperor of Jurai.

Upon moving into Azusa's presence, the group bowed before the Juraian Emperor. "Hello Aeka and Sasami, I see you've brought friends new and old to see me," said Azusa.

"Yes father, they've been a great help to me. One of them is here to talk to you about an important matter," greeted Aeka. "It concerns Prince Yosho. He is invading the world of Coralia without your permission. I brought Lieutenant Dominic Sorel of the UF from Coralia to petition for assistance."

"Thank you princess," said Dominic. "It is exactly as she said. Yosho is razing our cities and enslaving my people even as we speak. Please noble Emperor, stop the Prince's madness!"

"If what you speak of is true, then Yosho has committed war crimes under Juraian law," said Azusa. "I will help you deal with this matter, but I must discuss this first with the Director of Juraian Intelligence. In the meantime, why don't you stay in the Royal Palace as our guests for tonight?"

"Thank you, your Majesty. We'd be honoured. I hope you return with a positive response," said Dominic.

"Of course... Servants, please show our guests to their quarters," ordered Azusa.

The team were led to special guest rooms designed to house visiting dignitaries and diplomats from other kingdoms and nations. Everyone found their rooms to be so huge and luxurious. The rooms were kept meticulously clean, even when no one was coming to visit Tenju. The beds were fluffy and soft. They had a large dinner that night and slept soundly.

Azusa continued talks with Dominic, which caused the team to stay a second night. During that night, Tenchi fell asleep in his room. When he was out cold, the panel on the roof above his bed slid open, revealing a man dressed in black from head to toe, like a ninja. His face was concealed, ensuring no one could identify him. The man pulled out a string and an unlabeled bottle with a mysterious clear liquid.

Suddenly, Ryoko appeared in his room. She took one glance at the sleeping Tenchi and gave off a lusty smile. She casually shed every article of clothing and climbed in. Her movements woke him up. "Huh wha..."

"Hi, Tenchiii!" said Ryoko. "You've been making me hot and bothered all day. A girl can be teased so much!"

Tenchi noticed the soft sensation right near where his and Ryoko's chest met. Ryoko realized that and guided one of Tenchi's hands to her breasts. "Ah!" said Tenchi, sitting up and withdrawing his hand. "If Aeka finds out she'll go tear the whole place apart!"

Ryoko was annoyed to hear the name of her romantic nemesis come from his lips. "Aeka? Psssh! It's the just the two of us here. She doesn't have to know... It'll be our little secret!"

Ryoko put her finger on her lips and smiled. She mounted him and leaned forward to give a kiss. Tenchi pushed her up. "Ryoko, I'm not ready for this yet!" said Tenchi.

"Hmm? Oh I see, maybe you'd prefer me underneath?" asked Ryoko, flipping Tenchi on top of her. "There, maybe you like this better?" With eyes held shut, Ryoko embraced Tenchi, who was squirming to get away. When Ryoko opened them, she noticed a glint from the open panel. "We're being watched! You're not getting away!"

Ryoko tossed Tenchi off and charged up at where the voyeur was watching. She smashed through and burst into a secret compartment above the bed. She grabbed the man and yanked him into Tenchi's room, tearing a pile of debris along with him. Tenchi was shocked to see the ninja land in his room, with the naked Ryoko standing over him. The ninja tried to flee through the door, but Ryoko caught him and rudely tossed him to the ground.

However, the whole commotion woke up more people, namely Tenchi's companions who were sleeping the neighbouring rooms. When they came in to see what was going on, Tory had an amused smirk on his face. "Well, well, Tenchi, I never knew you were such a stud!" remarked Tory.

Aeka was livid when she saw Ryoko, naked and alone with Tenchi in his room. "Ryoko, what's the meaning of this? What are you doing in Lord Tenchi's room and naked like that?"

"Gee, could you be any less imaginative?" asked Ryoko sarcastically. "What did you think I was doing? Or are you too prudish to consider it, little princess, hmm?"

As the two girls bickered between each other, Tenchi and Mihoshi attempted to calm them down. Winry and the Elrics noticed the unconscious ninja lying on the ground, forgotten by the others. "Who is that guy?" asked Ed.

"I've no clue," replied Sasami.

At that moment, a regal Japanese woman in white robes entered the scene with a retinue of soldiers. "Aeka, stop this at once!" ordered the woman.

Aeka noticed her aunt and her soldiers. "Aunt Funaho? What's going on?"

"Do you not see that man on the ground? That was an assassin sent to kill Lord Tenchi," replied Funaho. "We have to leave!"

The guards escorted Tenchi and friends out of the bedroom area. "What's this about? Why are we running?" asked Aeka.

"It was your father who sent that assassin," replied Funaho sharply.

"Father? Why would he want to kill Lord Tenchi?" asked Aeka.

"That's what has me stumped. He's been acting strange lately. I dismissed it as the stress of ruling Jurai, but when I discovered that he was plotting Tenchi's assassination, I had to act quickly. That's why you have to leave Jurai now and never return."

Despite the group's attempt to flee the palace, they were surrounded by guards the moment they set foot outside of Tenju's front door. The guards pointed guns and had the group cornered near the doorway. Azusa emerged from among the rabble of soldiers to address the group. "Father, is what Aunt Funaho saying true? Are you trying to kill Lord Tenchi?"

"As a potential heir, Tenchi is one of the next in line for the throne," said Azusa.

Aeka was shocked and horrified. "So it was true..."

"My darling, the other Houses will not accept this. You will start a revolt!" said Funaho.

"Ah, but they won't ever know of this incident. I will simply tell them that this was all part of an elaborate coup against me, led by you. You will tried as traitors and executed."

Tory looked upon Azusa's forehead and saw the emblem of the golden crown on it. "He is possessed by a Rune," said Tory. He then noticed the other men, who suddenly revealed similar, but less vibrant Runes on their heads. "...And so are his men."

"This isn't good," remarked Ed. "With this many on us, I don't think we can get out of this in one piece."

At that moment, more men stormed the area, training guns at Azusa' men. Among them was Empress Misaki, the head of the Juraian Royal Bodyguards. "Mommy?" asked Sasami.

"Yes darling, I've come to save you!" said Misaki.

"So, you're a traitor too, Misaki?" asked Azusa. "I will see to it that you suffer for this!"

"You won't be doing anything today, darling," said Misaki. "I'll save my daughters and Tenchi, regardless of what you think. Drop your weapons and gather near the wall."

Rather than risk being shot, Azusa and his men complied. Misaki's men secured the enemy's weapons and kept their aim trained on the enemy as they watched for suspicious behaviour. "You'll regret this! I will see to it that you'll never be safe, not in Juraian space, not anywhere!" threatened Azusa.

"Threaten me all you want, I don't care as long as the lives of my daughters are safe," said Misaki. She turned to her daughters and hugged each in turn. "I'm glad youre safe. I was worried I would be too late."

"No, thanks to you, we're okay," said Sasami.

"Not yet, I still have to get you and Aeka away from Jurai. It's too dangerous here," said Misaki. "I've sent men to secure your ship. Let's get there before your father's men cut us off."

After her men tied up Azusa's, Misaki led the group to the Izumo and Ryu-Oh. There were several loyal men standing guard for Misaki and Funaho. However, Azusa's men descended upon the area, just before they could board. Ed turned around and employed alchemy to shoot masses of rock from the earth. They hit hard, with enough force to hurl Juraians into the air.

The men fired at Tory, but his Shield Card's bubble stymied their attack. He immediately started small earthquakes beneath their feet. The men tumbled to the ground, unable to maintain their footing. He ran for the Ryu-Oh, which Aeka just transformed into its ship form. Even as he teleported in, the Juraian men fired. After everyone was accounted for, Aeka raced to the controls sent the Ryu-Oh on a beeline for orbit.

As soon as they reached outer space, several Juraian ships moved to block their escape. The fleeing ships returned fire at Azusa's fleet. The blackness of space became lit by beams of blue light which sailed back and forth between the two sides. The Ryu-Oh shuddered as it took fire, even with the Light Hawk Wing defence system online.

"We're going to break through. Just a little more," said Misaki over a secure line channel. "Once you're through, make a FTL jump to these coordinates."

The Ryu-Oh received coordinates for an uninhabited planet outside of Juraian territory. Upon reaching the necessary distance, the Ryu-Oh zipped away at unfathomable speed. The enemy, not knowing their destination, were unable to follow. The ships gathered in orbit around this desolate, desert world to discuss their next move.

Over the communications line, Tory told them about himself, the Runes, and his mission to stop them. "I see," remarked Funaho. "So these Runes control whoever they attach to..."

"Yes your majesty. One of them, the Circle Rune, controls your son, Yosho. The Sovereign Rune control Emperor Azusa. Nothing you say will reach either of them now. We must remove the Runes to save them," informed Tory. "My group is trying to do so and we've had some good progress, but these two will pose a problem."

"I see, consider us allies in your mission," said Funaho. She sighed and addressed Aeka. "Aeka, as much as it pains me, this is where we must part."

"...But why? We just got back together and now we have to split up?" asked Aeka.

"This is for the best," assured Funaho. "We all have our duties. Misaki has chosen to go underground and gather loyalists to form a resistance force against Prince Yosho and Emperor Azusa. I'm going underground too, to provide intelligence and information. There's no stopping it now. The Juraian Empire will descend into civil war. We are not emperors and empresses anymore. We are Warlords of Jurai."

"You have a part to play too, Aeka," informed Misaki. "You have friends on that ship who will need you in the battles ahead. Help them as much as you can. Only then can we free Azusa and Yosho from their curse."

Though it pained her to admit it, Aeka knew that there was no other way. "Mommy, please stay safe. Come back alive."

"I will, Aeka, Sasami, I will. Goodbye," said Misaki.

"Bye mommy," said Aeka with tear-filled eyes.

"Please come back safely!" said Sasami, also with tears in her eyes.

The Karin, Mizuho, and their escorts sped away faster than the speed of light. The two former Empresses of Jurai vanished from the public spotlight to prepare for the civil war they knew was about to come. The Ryu-Oh turned away, opening a portal back to Harmonia. The trip went by quickly and without incident. Even after the group disembarked and split up, Aeka was silent.

** END OF CHAPTER**

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** SPOTLIGHT: Juraihelm (Tenchi Muyo) **

Politics/Demographics:  
The Juraian Empire of Juraihelm is among the most powerful empires in its galaxy and possibly in all of the anime worlds. Countless alien worlds and races are part of this empire. It is a monarchy currently ruled by Emperor Azusa and his two wives. The Juraians themselves are a long lived race with strength far surpassing the average man. They owe their prosperity and power to a pact with the goddess Tsunami, a member of the higher dimensional race called the Choushin.

Characters/VIPs:  
The key people from this world have some association with the Juraian crown. They include Aeka and Sasami Jurai, Tenchi Masaki, and Ryoko Hakubi. Aeka and Sasami Jurai are actually crown princesses of the Juraian Empire. Tenchi Masaki is also descended from Azusa's line, making him a prince of this empire as well. Ryoko had once attacked the Emperor's palace while under coercion by a criminal named Kagato.

Powers:  
Juraihelm is one of the most scientifically advanced worlds among anime worlds. It is a vast a galactic civilization with the technology to convert matter to energy and vice-versa near instantly. They also have ships which can travel across the galaxy in a matter of days.

Juraihelm also has psionics, which various alien races can manifest in different ways. Psionic powers in Juraihelm range from energy projection to teleportation and telepathic communication. The Juraians derive their superhuman strength from subconscious psionic enhancement of their body.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Moon Rune **  
Domains: The moon, compassion, destruction, euthanasia  
Duality: Mercy vs. Destruction  
Appearance: Blue crescent moon  
Powers: User becomes a vampire

Description:  
This True Rune represents compassion and mercy, but brings the bearer no end of sorrow and yearning. Ultimately, the bearer takes it so far that he or she will begin killing out of a warped sense of mercy to end the suffering of others. This Rune also brings another curse; for as long as the bearer has the Rune, he or she will be a vampire.


	11. RU1: The Juraian Civil War

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. This chapter introduces Vandread by GONZO.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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Runecaptors United 1: The Juraian Civil War 

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Sasami knocked on the wooden door to Aeka's room in Crystal Valley. "Sister, please come out!" Aeka didn't respond. Dejected, Sasami returned downstairs where Tenchi and friends were waiting for her. "Sister won't come out of her room."

"I see," said Tenchi. "How are you holding up?"

"I don't like this either, but I know Mommy and Aunt Funaho are trying to do what they think is best. I want to stay strong so that they wouldn't have to worry about me," said Sasami.

"I'm surprised, I never expected you to be so mature," remarked Washu. "Aeka could learn a lot from you."

"The Sovereign Rune and the Circle Rune have the whole empire under their control," continued Al. "How will our small group be able to handle them?"

"We have new people coming in. The Digimon Tamers with the squirt are calling in friends from DATS. The Section 9 leader is coming along too," said Tory. "We've got the Magic Knights, the Soul Reapers... It's not as bleak as you make it out to be."

"I called Kiyone to help us," said Mihoshi.

"Yeah, but even with their help, we're still outnumbered," said Tenchi. "Sure, we can take a few free Runes ourselves, but we'd never be able to get close to the Sovereign and Circle without an army."

"Maybe that's why the Empresses went away. They're trying to get that army for us," suggested Mihoshi.

"I heard Misaki say something like that," remarked Tenchi.

"I wonder if they did it... If so, we should try to make contact with them," said Al.

Some time later, a Juraian ship appeared in the skies above the Grasslands. A pair of UF ships rushed to intercept and flanked that ship along with KLF squadrons. "Unknown ship please identify yourself," said a voice over the radio.

"This is the Karin," replied the Juraian ship. "We have Empress Misaki on board. She is here to visit the Crown Princesses of Jurai."

The UF ships forwarded the message to Aeka and Sasami. Sasami in particular was very delighted to receive a visit from her mom. "Mommy's coming to visit!" she remarked. "I'll go get sister. Tell mommy I'll be there in a few minutes."

Sasami ran up to Aeka's door and knocked. Aeka perked up upon hearing Sasami relay that tidbit of news. "Mommy's here?"

"Yes! The UF found her ship just a few minutes ago. Let's go see her!" said Sasami.

Aeka followed Sasami without any hesitation. Sasami led her to a Crystal Valley building used by the UF for administration. Misaki was inside, seated in the lounge awaiting her daughters' arrival. When she saw her daughters come in, she embraced Sasami and then Aeka. "Mommy!" exclaimed Sasami.

"Sasami! I'm so glad to see you! I'm sorry I had to leave like that. Mommy needed to go take care of important things," said Misaki. "How have my girls been doing?"

"I was okay, but sister was bawling her eyes out after you left," said Sasami.

"Did she?" asked Misaki. "I never knew you were so mature."

"Mommy..." said Aeka.

"You don't need to say any more," said Misaki. "I'm sorry about having to leave so abruptly. I've been spending all this time gathering a resistance force to fight against Yosho and the Emperor. I came here because I have something important to tell you and your friends." Tory and the others, having heard of Misaki's arrival, came to see Misaki. "So your friends came too, perfect!"

"Hello, Empress Misaki, it's good to see you in good health," said Tory, kneeling as a sign of respect.

"Oh, there's no need for such formality," said Misaki. "You and the others are trying to capture the Runes, aren't you?"

"Yes," replied Tory as he got up.

"Good, looks like we have a common enemy. I'm here to ask for your group's support. It would be a good idea to join forces," suggested Misaki.

"Of course," replied Tory. "In that case, you should speak to Master Clow Reed in the translation room. He is the leader of our expedition. I will take you to him."

"Thank you," said Misaki.

"Mommy," addressed Aeka. "What happened to Auntie Funaho?"

"She's fine, don't worry," replied Misaki. "She's working with loyalists in Juraian intelligence to help us. Now, I have to meet Master Reed. Please excuse me."

Tory led Misaki to the tent where Clow Reed translated books from the Harmonian Royal Library. After a brief introduction, Misaki told Reed about her visit here. "I see, yes, this would be the most prudent course of action. You have our support," said Reed.

"Thank you, Master Reed," said Misaki. "The Juraian Empire is grateful for your help. In order to facilitate communication, my daughter Aeka will act as a liaison. She will remain here under her new role."

"Of course, we'll reorganize ourselves appropriately," said Reed. "Good luck."

Misaki returned to Aeka and Sasami at the UF administration building. "Mommy!" said Aeka, hugging Misaki along with Sasami.

"Hi girls!" said Misaki. "Mommy has an important job for you."

"What is it?" asked Sasami.

"It's something meant more for your sister. Aeka, I will be returning to help with the rebels. In my place, I want you to act as a liaison for our groups. I will leave some of my men here to support you. Please take care of things here, okay?"

"But mommy!" said Aeka.

"Say no more," said Misaki. "The day we free Yosho and your father is the day we return to being a happy family again. Please help your friends as much as you can. Sasami, please take care of your sister while I'm gone."

"Okay mommy, don't worry about Aeka," said Sasami.

Misaki smiled and hugged her daughters one final time before leaving for her ship. Her daughters saw her out and waved as the Karin vanished in a nimbus of light. Her visit had left Aeka filled with inner turmoil. No matter what scenario she played through in her mind, the only way forward was to remove the Runes. Only she and friends like Tory were capable of such an act. It was time for her to stop crying and make her desires come to reality.

* * *

The next day, Aeka called Clow Reed and Iroh to meet her in one of the unused buildings near the dig site in Crystal Valley. "Hello, Master Reed, Master Iroh."

"Hello, princess," said Iroh.

"Nice to meet you," said Reed. "This matter concerns the future of our group, does it not?"

"Yes," replied Aeka. "My mother has asked me to act as a liaison between our groups."

"I see, she had spoken to me about this. If anyone should assume the mantle of our group's leadership, I couldn't think of anyone better than you," said Reed.

"That's why I called you today. I don't know the first thing about military tactics, like you Iroh, nor do I know anything about the Runes like you, Master Reed," admitted Aeka. "That's why I need your help."

"Of course," said Iroh. "As a former general of the Fire Nation, let me take care of the strategic planning."

"...And I will advise you on matters of the Runes and the supernatural," assured Reed.

"Thank you Master Reed and General Iroh," said Aeka.

"Now that we've settled that, we should decide on a name for ourselves," suggested Iroh.

"How about the 'Runecaptors?'" offered Reed. "It's just like the name of my magical tradition, but we hunt Runes instead of keeping the cards."

Iroh and Aeka agreed, and thus the rune hunting group became known as the Runecaptors. As they stood, they had a few troops of Juraians and archaeologists at their disposal. They also had the Cardcaptors and various heroes from other worlds gathered along the way. As their first move, the Runecaptors went on a recruitment binge. The first to answer this call was Daisuke Aramaki, chief of Section 9, who brought in resources from his agency to help hunt down the 7 Sins drug runners.

With his arrival came a shipment of heavy, military specification weapons in crates. Batou opened up one of these crates and pulled out an assault rifle. He cocked the firing mechanism, which let out a nice "click-click" sound. He looked down the iron sights of the weapon and smiled. He was like a kid whose received a new toy from his parents. He continued to sort through the new heavy weaponry his team had received for fighting Sevenfold Rune demons.

Elsewhere, Yoshino, Marcus, and Thomas encountered a man in sunglasses and a navy blue trench coat. The man had a chiseled face and jaw, but his sunglasses hid whatever expression was in his eyes. He had a small, white, weasel-like creature perched around his neck. The creature itself had a golden ring around his neck. It looked upon the people and buildings with an almost scheming expression.

"Commander Sampson?" asked Marcus upon encountering this man.

"Oh, hi Marcus, you're just the person I was hoping to find," said Sampson.

"Hi commander, what brings you here?" asked Thomas.

"Your leaders called for some help at DATS. We're assigning some Digimon to bolster your ranks. I'll be overseeing their arrival for the time being," replied Sampson.

"Great! We can use every Digimon we can get," said Gaomon.

Meanwhile, Washu glanced over the technology of the Gekko and pondered the difficulties it presented. "How primitive," she remarked. "It's not even faster-than-light capable!"

"Well, excuse me if my ship's so primitive! Now, can you make it faster without Trappars or not?" asked Talho.

"Of course I can, but there is only so much I can do," admitted Washu. "...Because of Paradox, I can't just toss any old thing onto the Gekko. I have to make sure it's compatible. I'd say it'd take me two weeks to build the engine and fully test it."

"Alright, do what you must," said Talho.

As Talho and Washu went over modifications to the Gekko, the Nirvash pilots, Renton and Eureka, decided to take a walk around Crystal Valley. To them, the city was vastly different from the ones back home. Renton wondered what the city's former inhabitants, the Harmonians, were like. Eureka, on the other hand, thought that the city was quite beautiful even in its partially restored state. It was much cleaner than the grungy ones back home.

As they approached the archaeological dig, they were stopped by a Juraian guard post before a fence surrounding the dig site. "I'm sorry sir, but you may not enter without proper ID," informed the guard to Seta as he approached.

Seta flashed his card at the soldier. "Good day Mr. Seta, please go in," said the guard, opening a door for him. The guard closed it promptly once Seta cleared the area.

Since they would never be allowed entry, Renton and Eureka left the area. "I wonder what's over there?" asked Eureka.

"I heard that place was an archaeological dig site. That man must be digging there. I noticed a hammer and chisel on him," observed Renton. "If I remember correctly, the Runes were locked there before they busted out and started causing all this trouble."

"Really?" asked Eureka. "I never would have thought that we were so close to where everything started."

"Yeah... Hey, let's get something to eat," suggested Renton.

The duo took a trip to a local restaurant which the UF forces and the archaeologists converted into a restaurant and mess hall. They ordered some hamburgers and fries. After enjoying their meal, they returned to the space port to see how the upgrades to the Gekko and Nirvash were progressing. When they set foot into the hangar, they found several robots toiling on the Nirvash. They had opened its back side and were wiring a jet pack unit to it.

"Hi Renton, hi Eureka, how's it going?" asked Talho.

"It's fine, how are the upgrades coming?" asked Eureka.

"Washu has finished the life support system in the cockpit. Her robots are installing the jet pack now," said Talho.

"I hope they take good care of the Nirvash," said Eureka.

"Don't worry," assured Talho. "Washu may seem strange, but we have the brightest mind working on our stuff."

* * *

"You wanted to see me, Master Reed?" asked Shaoran as he stepped into the translation room.

"Yes," replied the master magician. "I just detected the Sun Rune in the Paksese Frontier on a planet called Majere. I don't know much about that place, so be on guard. Bring your friends over and I'll open the way."

When Shaoran returned with Meilin and the Soul Reapers, Clow Reed called the power of the Through Card. The dimensions deformed and twisted into connection as a swirling vortex of energy. The group entered and found themselves within an alley in a city on Majere. They looked around to get their bearings. The buildings were tall with gaudy lights and decorations of colours ranging from gold to pink. As they exited, they entered the commercial district. There were boutiques displaying clothing and jewellery for women all along the street.

The women of Majere began to notice the presence of the Runecaptors. "They looking at us," remarked Rukia. "Is there something on our faces or our clothes?" She immediately started to look at her clothing. Finding nothing, she started to wipe her face as though to remove some blemish or mark.

"They're not looking at you. They're looking at us, the guys," said Uryu.

"What? It's like they've never seen a guy before," remarked Ichigo.

As Uryu looked at the faces of the people, he noticed that there were no men among them. With the exception of certain Runecaptors like himself, everybody was female. "Exactly, I think only females live in this city, maybe even the whole planet."

"I guess men are an endangered species around here," suggested Orihime.

"This isn't good. We're drawing too much attention," remarked Shaoran.

While he was talking, Meilin had her eyes closed, trying to feel the pulses of supernatural energy it gave. Without other sources to interfere, she detected the burning hot Sun Rune coming from the east. "It's east," she told the others. "Let's go."

Although the Majeran women were fascinated by the male Runecaptors, they also seemed somewhat apprehensive. They generally kept away, allowing the group to slip through a second alley. The group passed through the city, eventually coming upon a public space port as gaudy as its city. It was comprised of a group of massive buildings much like domes in design. Each of them were connected to each other by a series of sealed walkways.

"The Rune is in the pink one," informed Meilin.

The group entered this dome and found a massive ship hovering aloft at the centre due to what appeared to be anti-gravity devices. The aquamarine ship had two long protrusions which gave it the appearance of a set of fangs. Service personnel ran about the area, effecting repairs and systems checks to the ship. Some of the women wore different uniforms, suggesting that they might be ship's crew, or mere passers-by. Unlike in the city, the space port had a bit more men, but only about one for every thirty women.

The group looked over the ship's entrance, which had several women passing through. "The Rune's inside, but security's tight. How do we get in?" asked Meilin.

"We'll have to think fast. If we take too long, the ship might take off with the Rune still inside," said Shaoran.

Orihime noticed a pair of female mechanics entering the ship. "How about we disguise ourselves as mechanics and sneak inside?" she suggested.

"I doubt that anything they wear would fit me or Chad," said Uryu.

"I think she meant that just us girls will sneak in," said Rukia.

"Maybe you and Orihime could fit into the uniforms, but Meilin wouldn't, and you'll need her to seal the Rune," observed Shaoran.

"Yeah," she admitted. "...But, we can use the Small Card to solve that problem."

"Sure, but you'll still look smaller than most of the mechanics. You'll stand out," said Shaoran.

"It may not be a perfect plan, but it's the best one we've got," said Rukia.

"Okay, how do we get uniforms for the three of you?" asked Chad.

"They must have a stock room or locker where you can get some. Once you're inside, you'll be on your own," warned Uryu. "If you get into trouble, it might be tough to get you out, so stay focused."

"Yeah, don't worry. Let's do it!" said Orihime.

The female Runecaptors located the stockroom by tailing an unsuspecting mechanic back to it. When they were sure no one was looking, they scrounged up uniforms in the proper size and changed into them in a nearby dressing room. Meilin shrunk her uniform to a suitable size and put in on. "It's a bit large, but it will have to do," remarked the fiery Cardcaptor.

They acquired some unused tools to complement their disguises and joined up with the guys at the ship. "Okay, good luck you three. We'll be here if you need us," said Ichigo.

"Yeah, if anything goes wrong, we'll call you," said Orihime.

The girls walked into the space craft, acting as casual and natural as possible. The ship was huge, quite capable of carrying well other two hundred women with room to spare. The halls were sleek and clean, complete with a high tech, futuristic look. On occasion a woman or two would walk down the hallway, but none paid the girls any mind. The crew merely thought that they were mere maintenance workers, just as their disguises intended.

They soon came across a green-haired woman wearing a headband. "You look a little lost," she remarked.

"Uh, yeah. We don't know where to go. This is our first day on the job," Orihime said, trying to con the woman.

"I see, in that case, there's some repair work that needs to be done in the hangar. You can get to it by using the elevator in the hall behind you. Parfait is already there and she'll tell you what needs to be done."

"Thank you, uh, whoever you are," said Orihime.

"Gascogne," replied the woman.

"Yeah, we'll be our way," said Rukia.

Just as she was about to leave, she took a good look at Meilin. "Hey," remarked Gascogne. Meilin was sweating through her uniform. "That uniform looks a little too big for you. You should request a smaller one before you go home."

"Yeah, I'll remember to do that," replied Meilin, secretly relieved that her disguise held up.

The trio pushed a button to summon the nearby elevator. When Gascogne finally left, they breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew, that was close," said Meilin, covered by sweat from her encounter with Gascogne.

"So good so far," remarked Rukia. "Let's hope our luck holds out."

The girls entered the elevator and looked over a lighted map, a schematic of the ship showing various decks and sections. The cargo room with the Rune was on the lowest deck, just beside the hanger. As the elevator went down, the lights zipped by between the crack in the doors. It stopped in another hallway much like the first, but far lower and deeper in the ship than the first. They passed by some other women and eventually came upon a large pair of doors.

When the girls went inside, they were greeted by an interior much like a large warehouse. The ceiling was high above the ground with large fluorescent lights illuminating the room. The shelves were filled with spare parts for the numerous computers and devices in the ship. At the back in an empty corner was a sole device like a pedestal. It had a small panel on the side with a key pad for entering in a special code. On the pedestal was a clear plastic cover which was surrounded by a sense of power.

Inside that cover was a small piece of amber with the emblem of the sun etched into it with golden light. "That's the Sun Rune, but I think there's a shield protecting it," said Meilin.

"How do we get it out?" asked Orihime. "We don't know the code."

"We could always blast it open," offered Meilin.

"Yeah, but that might set off an alarm. This is a stealth mission, remember?" Rukia reminded them. The team thought about it before Rukia came up with an idea. "I know! Orihime, can you use the Shun Shun Rikka to reject the barrier?"

"It's worth a shot, stand back!" warned Orihime. Two of the fairies appeared and surrounded the pedestal device in a field of orange light.

Unknown to the girls, they were picked up by a hidden security camera at the front of the cargo bay. A female security guard noticed the girls meddling with the Sun Rune on a monitor. "Who are those guys?" she asked mentally. Her control panel suddenly indicated that the protective barrier went down. "Thieves!"

She immediately sent a security team to the cargo bay. A dozen armed guards gathered around the cargo bay and stormed in. They flooded into the room and trained guns on the girls. "Freeze! Hands in the air!"

Rukia secretly hit a button to send a distress signal before turning around and raising her hands. Outside, the guys received the distress signal. "Something's gone wrong," remarked Ichigo. "We're busting in!"

The guys advanced on the ship. Ichigo and Shaoran drew swords, ready to cut down Majeran guards. Chad cracked some knuckles on his Giant's Arm. Uryu summoned a bow made of blue reiki. Unarmed crew members stayed clear. There hostile entry brought security guards over to investigate. "Freeze! Drop your weapons!" cried their leader, a teenaged girl with a cold countenance and baby blue hair.

Shaoran lashed out with the Thunder Card's lightning. The bolts forked out as they arced from his fingertips. It hit the girl and two adjacent guards. They were shocked, literally and figuratively, and were unable to move as they convulsed in agony. They couldn't take much before they collapsed. Using this distraction, Ichigo zipped behind a fourth and elbowed her in the back of the head. He zipped behind another and downed a fifth.

Back in the cargo room, the security guards opened fire on the girls. Meilin stepped out of sight into a vertical disc of light, while Orihime fled behind some shelves under the protection of the Shun Shun Rikka's shield. Rukia flash-stepped behind the enemy line and let loose a kido spell upon them. The enemy's arms became bound by rings of golden light, making it impossible for them to raise their weapons, let alone fire them.

Meilin reappeared behind a shelf flanking the enemy. She burst out and kicked the weapon out of a guard's hand. She floored the woman with a leg sweep and finished her off with a power-packed punch to the face. "Let's get the Rune and get out of here!" she told the other girls.

However, events would make their complicate their mission further. Attracted by the Rune's presence, a Juraian space craft had emerged from a portal in the sky. It moved near the space port, where it suddenly stopped. Outside of the Majerans' aquamarine craft, several Juraian assault teams materialized out of thin air. These men were armed with energy assault rifles and clad in body armour. From behind the guys, another squad materialized directly in the ship.

"Juraians!" remarked Shaoran. "They're after the Rune!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Uryu, picking off one of the men with an arrow.

The Juraians fired at the guys, who took up stances in defence. Chad hurled a blast of energy down the hall. Their bodies went flying everywhere, dashed into nearby walls and tumbling into heaps on the ground. Elsewhere, the ship's elderly captain burst onto the bridge. "Boss, the ship is being infiltrated. There's more of them outside!" said one of the officers. "There's also an unidentified ship hovering above the space port."

"Prepare for take off," she ordered. "We have to get out of here!" All around the ship, blast doors leading outside automatically closed. The Nirvana's anti-gravity generator fired up, lifting the ship into the air. "Order port to open the door."

The comm officer, Ezra Vieil, relayed the order, threatening to shoot their way out. The port authority obliged in the heat of the moment. The dome-like roof split open, revealing the starry sky of the Majeran night. As soon as they left the confines of the dome, they received a message from the Juraian ship outside. "Nirvana, surrender your vessel or we will open fire!" ordered the Juraians over the radio.

"Go to hell!" retorted the captain, Magno.

The Juraian ship opened fire as the Nirvana attempted to make escape velocity. Beams of blue light zinged by, with a few hitting the ship and causing it to shudder. Everyone inside had been rocked by the Nirvana shuddering from the impact of enemy fire. "What's going on?" asked Uryu.

"Someone must be shooting at the ship," observed Chad.

The girls united with the guys. "We got it!" said Meilin.

"Good job, but now we have a new problem," remarked Uryu.

"Yeah, we know. The ship just took off with us still in it," said Rukia.

"The Juraians are firing on the ship," informed Shaoran. "We don't have to stay here any longer. I can open a portal to get us out."

"We can't just leave them behind. We're partly to blame for what's happening," said Orihime. "We should help them."

"I wouldn't say it like that," said Shaoran objecting to Orihime's claim.

"Well, I'm with Orihime. We don't HAVE to do anything, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't," emphasized Ichigo.

Everyone agreed with Ichigo's assessment. "Alright," said Shaoran, resigned to the will of his group.

"Let's head to the bridge," suggested Uryu. The Juraians hit the ship again, causing it to shudder.

The Runecaptors boarded the elevator, which lifted them to a room just outside the Nirvana's bridge and central command area. As soon as they stepped out, they were stopped by armed women. No one made a move. Magno approached, intent on seeing the faces of her intruders. "So, you were the ones who were giving security so much trouble. Who are you folks and why are you here?" she asked.

"We're Runecaptors," replied Shaoran. "Our job is to hunt the Runes and seal them away. The Runes are very dangerous, magical things. You had one of them in your cargo hold."

"Ah, so that's what our cargo was," remarked Magno. "Tell me, why are you so anxious to 'seal' them away?"

"Runes are dangerous as he said," informed Meilin. "They take control of the people who get their hands on them. They cause a lot of destruction. If left alone, they will look for someone to possess."

"Yeah, two of the Runes have taken control of the Juraian Empire," continued Shaoran. "...Because of that Rune, that ship is shooting at you now. They want it. You mustn't let them get it."

Magno could sense that these people truly believed what they had told her. Suddenly, the Nirvana shuddered! A beam had struck the ship's flank and broke off pieces of its chassis. A pair of Juraian ships waiting in orbit moved against the Nirvana. However, Majere's space forces moved to intercept these ships. As a result, the battle had escalated to three Juraian ships versus the Nirvana and a small unit from the Majeran military. From the Nirvana and the military ships came the Dreads, sleek, agile space fighters.

The Dreads darted around the Juraian ships, harassing them with attacks from every angle imaginable. The Juraian ships fired back, but continuously missed these smaller, more manoeuvrable fighters. However, the Dreads encountered a problem of their own, the Light Hawk Wing. This defence system was one of the best there was, creating a virtually impenetrable barrier of energy around the Juraian ship. Try as they might, the Dreads' weapons lacked the power to wear down such a near-perfect defence.

"Boss, our weapons are having no effect on the enemy's defences," warned Ezra from below. Magno glanced at the battle unfolding on the main monitor. "Our Dreads and the military's are being worn down. They can't punch through the enemy's defences."

"That's the Light Hawk Wings," informed Meilin. "They are psionic barriers. Your ships don't have the firepower to break though, but we can change that."

"If we don't do something soon, we'll lose them. Jura's Dread has already taken heavy damage," warned Ezra.

"Let them do their thing," Magno ordered the guards.

Meilin and Shaoran focused all the magical might they could muster. The sheer power they were channelling immediately formed a glowing yellow Seal of Clow on the ground. At the centre was an effigy of the sun and to its upper left was that of the moon. Running around the sun were the glyphs of the zodiac. The Soul Reapers could feel the immense power they were channelling and wondered what they were about to do.

Magno's first officer, a stern, brown-skinned woman with smoky grey hair, looked at the circle. "What is that? Magic?" asked the woman, BC.

"Yeah," replied Meilin. "Please don't disturb us, we're trying to concentrate."

Meilin held out her palm, pointing its flat towards the barrier formed by the Light Hawk Wing. She manifested the Lock Card, focusing its sealing power upon the Juraian ship. A spectral lock, made of translucent blue light, reduced the barrier to a Light Hawk Wing and wrapped chains around it. In doing so, it removed the Juraians' barriers, leaving them vulnerable to attack. "Hibiki, the enemy's defences are down. This is your chance!" said Ezra.

"Roger, I'm going in!" replied a tanned boy with short blue hair. He was seated in the cockpit of a Vandread, a blue, robotic war machine.

On his lap was a red headed girl with an optimistic expression. "Let's go Mr. Alien!" said the girl, Dita.

The Vandread turned to face the Juraian ship. It flew forward and pelted it with energy. Hibiki's attack melted holes through the chassis. The Juraian ship returned fire, but the Vandread banked away easily. It resumed its original attack run and poured on the firepower on its way in. The new beams melted more holes until one successfully seared its way out the other end. A small fiery plume burst out, indicating the crippling damage he had been done. The Juraian ship went dead.

Shaoran brought forth the Thunder Card. Spheres of electricity formed over the second ship. They started lashing out lightning which forked as they approached the ship. The electricity danced all over the chassis with each strike. It was a beautiful sight, yet highly chaotic and deadly. The bolts hit with enough heat to melt portions of the ship. A small fiery plume burst from a molten hole. Inside the ship, electricity danced and leapt from wall to wall. It electrocuted the Juraians and rendered the ship useless.

The Majeran military Dreads unleashed a volley of beams, lighting up the third ship like a Christmas tree. The Juraians returned fire, still unable to hit such manoeuvrable ships. With each hit, Majeran weapons put holes in the enemy's hull. Inside, electronics started to short out. A mighty beam burst through a hallway, disintegrating a Juraian running through. Unable to withstand the assault, the ship went dead.

* * *

The Runecaptors met with Magno later on in the Nirvana's meeting room, where they told her more about the Juraians. "So those two Runes are controlling the Juraian Empire?"

"Yes," replied Shaoran. "We don't know which of them attacked you, but that doesn't matter. Both want more Runes to increase their power. That's why you understand that we can't leave the Rune in your hands. You are in danger as long as you have it; from the Juraians and any new people who learn about it and decide to go after its power. The Juraians will come again and next time, they'll come with a bigger army."

"I see," remarked Magno, deep in thought over the magnitude of Shaoran's warning. "Keep the Rune then. It has already been more trouble than it's worth."

"Boss, are you sure about this?" asked BC.

"Yes," replied Magno. "However, there is still one more matter. Grandma, Grandpa, and the first generation agree that we can't let this incident slide. They have decided to lend support to your cause, but in exchange, they want samples of Juraian technology to develop counter-measures. As part of this agreement, we of the Nirvana will directly participate in your operations."

"We'll pass this message along," assured Rukia.

** END OF CHAPTER**

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** SPOTLIGHT: Paksese Frontier (Vandread) **

Politics/Demographics:  
Majere is a planet inhabited solely by women. Its counterpart, Taraak, only has men. Both sexes originally came to their region of space in a single colony ship from Earth. They somehow split up and came to rule two different planets. Those from the First Generation, the elderly original colonists, formed the ruling councils of the two planets, in effect becoming the government of the colonists and their descendents.

Characters/VIPs:  
Magno, the captain of the Nirvana, is the leader of her pirate/privateer group and a member of the First Generation. Among her crew are Hibiki and Dita, ace pilots who pilot the Dread and Vandread units.

Powers:  
The Paksese Frontier is deeply entrenched in science, due to its reliance on space ships and higher technology. The people there have craft capable of breaching the speed of light and all accompanying technologies, such as energy generation, which enable this. It also has some psionics in it, such as telepathy.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Sun Rune **  
Domain: Sun, light, nurturing, warmth  
Duality: Nurturing versus Smothering  
Appearance: A golden sun  
Powers: Holy and light powers

Description:  
This powerful Rune represents the warmth and nurturing light cast by the sun. It enables its bearer to employ light and holy-based powers. Although a positive thing, this Rune's duality proves the saying that there can be too much of a good thing. Its power can be so intense that it can smother and destroy whatever it touches, the bearer included.


	12. RU2: Father and Son

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Mai Hime and Mai Otome from Sunrise and Dragonball Z from Akira Toriyama make their debuts here.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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**The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 **

**Runecaptors United, part 2: Father and Son **

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Having agreed to Magno's proposal, the Runecaptors had gained powerful new allies in the planets Taraak and Majere, and the Nirvana pirates. As their inauguration of this alliance, Magno attended a meeting with the leaders of the Runecaptors. "From our intelligence, it is likely that the Secessionist faction of Yosho, was the one that attacked you," said Aeka.

"What I feared would happen is happening sooner than I hoped," admitted Reed. "This is whole event is descending into a Runic arms race with the other factions and possibly new parties. With the royalty of Jurai under their control, the Circle and Sovereign Runes have insulated themselves against us. We can't possibly confront the Secessionists and Imperials directly at this stage. and using our Runes is out of the question."

"7 Sins production is still going strong back in Cyberia," said Aramaki. "I've seen reports of 7 Sins usage occurring in the American Empire, along with three documented cases of people being attacked by those monsters."

One of Aeka's underlings came with a report and a disk from Funaho. He handed the paper to Aeka, who read it quietly. "Funaho just came in with some news. The Imperials are massing for an attack on Pucella. They're gathering their fleet in the Barnard's Star system." The room suddenly went silent. "She sent an information packet too."

Aeka popped the disk into a reader. Pucella was a world much like the Human World, except for certain incidents which happened in the recent past. These incidents were battles involving about a dozen girls called the "Hime." These girls were all students of Fuka Academy, which taught both male and female students of all ages. These girls had superhuman abilities and fought off monster invasions against their school before suddenly turning on each other. Somehow, all of these girls miraculously survived the ordeal.

The word "Hime" stood for "Highly-advanced Materializing Equipment." They essentially used photons to create solid objects, weapons called "Elements." In addition, they could also summon bio-mechanical creatures known as "Children." Recently, the Searrs Foundation, an American corporation, had found a way to emulate and impart some of these powers through nanomachine technology. This technology has started to enter use in commerce, police forces, and the military.

However, this new technology had certain flaws. An excess of prostate specific antigens caused the user to develop immunoreactions against these nanomachines. Thus, only women could use this technology and those that did came to be known as the "Otome." If the woman ever had sexual intercourse, the immunoreactions would destroy the nanomachines and strip them of their abilities. So far, Searrs had yet to overcome this flaw, but it was working diligently on correcting it.

"Perhaps Azusa might be intent on acquiring this technology," remarked Iroh. "I can see him making an army of 'superwomen' with it."

"Whatever he is up to, we have to stop him. We'll plan an operation with Misaki immediately," said Aeka.

* * *

After Reed left the meeting, he suddenly felt a large surge of supernatural energy. Focusing on it, he traced the power back to its source and received a vision of a short man with spiky black hair. This man seemed to have a scowl almost perpetually etched on his face. On the man's forehead was a yellow symbol much like a muscular torso. The bearer revelled in power never felt before. Reed recognized the symbol as the Body Rune, also known as the Ki Rune.

The man flew through the air at immense speed, as though making a beeline for something. He ran into two individuals who were sparring. The stronger of the two was a green-skinned alien with pointed ears. A Namekian, he wore a white cape, a matching cap, and a dark blue martial arts uniform. The weaker signature came from his training partner, a short human. The man had a mane of black hair and a set of six dots on his forehead. He was dressed in an orange martial arts gi. The Rune's bearer recognized these men as Piccolo and Krillin respectively.

Krillin threw a punch. Piccolo caught the blow, but before he could launch a counter, both he and Krillin sensed the Rune bearer's presence. "Oh hi Vegita, what do you need?' asked Krillin.

"I want to test my power. Fight me," requested the Rune bearer brusquely.

"Sure! If you want to train with us, feel free to join in," offered Krillin.

"I'm not here to train. I told you, I want to test my power. Come at me like you were going to kill me!" demanded Vegita.

The two other warriors were puzzled by Vegita's bizarre behaviour. "What?" asked Krillin.

"You heard me. Come at me full force or you will die! Fight me!"

"Are you kidding?" asked Piccolo. "What reason would we have to try to kill you?"

"If you won't do it, then I'll make you!" replied Vegita. He charged up a blast of ki and sent it at Piccolo. The Namekian quickly dodged the blast, despite not expecting such blatant hostility and aggression.

"That was a big one!" remarked Krillin, gazing back and feeling the sheer power of the subsequent explosion. "He means business, Piccolo. We don't have a choice."

Krillin flew in and hurled a pair of punches, a kick, and two more punches. Vegita blocked every hit, and counter-punched once only to be blocked, dodged a new kick, and launched a counter-kick. Krillin dodged the counter-punch, but had to block the kick. It hit with surprising force, pushing him back along the ground. Vegita's power had grown surprisingly high in the short time since their last meeting. Krillin had sparred with the Saiyan prince before, but he had never displayed this much power unless going all out using the Super Saiyan power-boosting mode.

Krillin saw an opening and extended a kick. It caught Vegita in the stomach, but merely pushed him back with seemingly no lasting harm. Piccolo jumped in with a flurry of punches. Vegita blocked every hit and slipped in a counter which his foe blocked. Vegita landed a kick at Piccolo's chest, which hurled the Namekian into the ground. Vegita zipped into his path and kicked him into the air. Vegita popped up before Krillin and caught him in the face. He grabbed and tossed Krillin into the still airborne Piccolo and both warriors landed in a heap, sprawled on the ground groaning in agony.

"Hmmf, you were nothing to me, just as I thought. Let's see if someone else can provide more of a challenge," boasted Vegita before flying away.

Lured by the power of Vegita's Rune, Sakura and party appeared in the middle of a vacant field. "So, where is this place?" asked Naruto.

"Zeta Earth," replied Sakura. "You remember Trunks, don't you?"

"Yeah, he was that martial arts guy who helped us fight this 'Corn' guy," said Naruto.

"If he is as good as I think he is, I would like to get him to teach me some new moves," said Rock Lee.

"We're going to get Trunks to help us out with this one," said Madison. "He knows us so it shouldn't be hard to convince him."

Sakura looked over a GPS map and directed the team to move to the south. The Capsule Corp's headquarters was in the city in that direction, as was Trunks Briefs' home. The journey went by uneventfully until Hinata spotted the city in the horizon. "Hey, there it is!" called Hinata, seeing it through the Byakugan eyes.

"We're almost there, let's pick up the pace," urged Rock Lee.

However, their journey was about to be brought to an abrupt end. "Someone's coming from the sky," said Hinata.

The man who descended was Vegita, bearer of the Ki Rune. "He has the Rune," said Madison.

"Be careful, this guy's no joke," said Shikamaru who could feel the awesome power radiating from Vegita's being.

"I want to test my power. Come at me with everything you have," dared Vegita.

Naruto was only too happy to oblige. "If it's a fight you want. You asked for it!"

"No Naruto!" cried Shikamaru.

He immediately used the Shadow Clone jutsu, surrounding the Saiyan prince with doubles of himself. Vegita glanced around moments before the clones charged forward to attack. The Saiyan prince launched into a flurry off punches and kicks. One by one, he destroyed each and every clone. One came in with a leaping kick, but Vegita caught his foot swung him in a circle like a ball and chain. The Naruto clone struck the others, throwing them about and dispersing them. To finish off, Vegita hurled the clone into the air and casually blasted it with ki.

That clone was the real Naruto, who landed face first at the feet of his friends, severely wounded from the exchange. The others had no choice but to fight. Rock Lee leapt into the fray, taking advantage of the diversion. Vegita dodged a punch and caught Lee's foot as it came in for a kick. He hurled Lee, who righted himself midair and landed safely. Lee closed again, coming in with a punch. Vegita dodged and delivered a devastating blow to the stomach. With a kick, he sent Lee into the air.

Hinata palm-striked Vegita in the back, drilling Chakra painfully into his body. With the Saiyan's ki channels being different from a chakra network, Gentle Fist was not as lethal, but still painful. A sharp stinging pain radiated from his back, staggering him. As Vegita turned around, Hinata came in to strike his chest. He caught her hand and swept her legs. She bounced back up and threw another palm strike which was sidestepped. He clinched her and kneed her groin. She bent forward, making it easy for him to pull her head down and knee her face. Knocked unconscious, she fell face first into the ground.

Shikamaru caught Vegita in his Shadow Possession Jutsu. His shadow and Vegita's were joined together, linking Vegita's movements to his. "Caught you! You won't be getting away so easily."

"Is that so?" asked Vegita defiantly.

Vegita took a step forward, forcing Shikamaru to painfully mirror the Saiyan's movement. This sudden jerking nearly shattered Shikamaru's concentration. "Urggh, hurry! He's too strong!" gasped Shikamaru, trying desperately to maintain control on Vegita's movements.

Vegita made another step, forcing Shikamaru to do the same. "We've got him, get ready to let go," said Sakura.

After Shikamaru's three count, he released the Shadow Possession. Sakura scooped Vegita into a tornado. The fierce winds flung the Saiyan prince about. Madison unleashed wisps of the Dark Card's darkness into the tornado. The darkness slowly sapped Vegita's strength. If he didn't do anything, he would be drained dry. As a last ditch effort, Vegita gathered all the power he could and unleashed it as the most powerful burst he could muster.

The explosion bloomed rapidly, quickly engulfing Sakura, Madison, and Shikamaru. All three of them were hurled into the ground forcefully and laid there motionless. Vegita paused to glance at his victims. "Worthless," he remarked. "Those first weaklings put up a much better fight." Vegita flew away in search of more opponents to test his mettle.

* * *

Elsewhere, two teenaged boys flew through the sky. The first was Trunks, an old friend of those who fought in Valiance. The second was a black-haired teenager in an orange gi similar to Krillin's. The teen was quite muscular and had a look of determination and concern on his face. The duo had felt several particularly large emissions of ki outside of the city. As part of their duties, they went over to investigate what had caused them.

Trunks saw several bodies lying on the ground. "Gohan, down there," he directed.

The duo landed an inspected the bodies of Sakura, Shikamaru, and their friends. "What happened here?" wondered Gohan.

"It was the same ki signature from earlier. It was my father's... Did he do all this?" asked Trunks.

"...But why would he do this? What could he have against these people?" asked Gohan.

Trunks suddenly noticed that one of them was wearing a familiar orange jumpsuit. He flipped the person over to see his face. "This one's Naruto!"

"You know him?" asked Gohan.

"Yes, we fought together during that Omnipotence incident," replied Trunks. He walked over to Sakura and Madison's unconscious bodies. "These girls are Sakura and Madison. They fought with us against Omnipotence."

"They're still breathing, but they're pretty beat up," observed Gohan.

"Let's drop them off at a hospital. We'll check out that other location when we're done," said Trunks.

Sometime later, Naruto found himself in a bed in an unfamiliar place. From the lights in the ceiling and the drab, sterile decor, he concluded that he was in a hospital. "You're awake," remarked a nurse.

"Yeah... Where am I? Is this the Leaf Village?" asked Naruto.

"No, this is North Hospital in Dome City. Some nice young men brought you in. I'll call them in," said the nurse.

Trunks and Gohan entered Naruto's hospital room. "Trunks, am I ever glad to see you!" said Naruto. "Who's the other guy?"

"This is Gohan. He's a friend of mine," replied Trunks. "Could you tell me who did this to you?"

Naruto described Vegita's appearance to them. "That sounds like your father," remarked Gohan.

"Your father did this?" asked Naruto.

"Yes," replied Trunks. "His name is Vegita, but I don't know why he would do such a thing. He might be a little rough, but I doubt he would attack someone for no reason."

"Yeah, about that," began Naruto. "We're here to catch this 'Room' thingy that's on your dad's head. Sakura and Madison over there know more about it, but I remember them telling me that it gets inside your head and makes you do things."

"Mind control?" asked Trunks.

"Yeah, something like that," replied Naruto. "We came here to get help from you guys, but Vegita came over and picked a fight with us. Boy, did he ever kick the crap out of us. Next thing I know, I'm lying in a hospital bed."

"You weren't the only ones," informed Gohan. "Vegita attacked some of our other friends too. He got Krillin across from you and Piccolo on the bed next to him. We found them not long after we found you guys."

"You guys were lucky. My dad didn't hurt you as much as them," said Trunks. "We'll continue this later."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, I have so much to tell you. It's nice seeing you again."

* * *

When the entire group finally recovered from their confrontation with Vegita, they met with Trunks and Gohan. "I've asked Naruto about the one who attacked you, my father, Vegita. Can you girls tell me anything more about that thing that's controlling him?" asked Trunk.

"Yeah, it's called the Ki Rune. It's a powerful source of ki with a will of its own," replied Sakura. "It's making your father very powerful, but it's changing him. He said he wanted to test his power before he attacked us."

After hearing that, Trunks could see why his father would be such an ideal bearer for the Ki Rune. "Knowing my dad, I don't know if the Rune is fully in control. He's a strong man, and I look up to him, but he's always comparing himself to Goku, always trying be better than him."

"He does?" asked Gohan.

"Yes, he talks about it all the time when we train," replied Trunks. "My dad has seen how Goku is constantly saving us from Cell, Freeza, or someone like them. Yet, no matter how hard he trained, he just couldn't reach Goku's level. He was always a step behind. Now that he has the Rune, I wonder if he has become drunk with its power. I don't doubt that he can defeat Goku now."

"Yes, but at what cost?" asked Rock Lee rhetorically. "It is like he is cheating by using the Rune. It is not his own power that would give him the victory."

"I know. If this continues, Vegita might lose himself to the Rune," warned Madison. "All that will be left is a hunger for more power that can never be filled."

"Yeah, the longer he goes on like this, the harder it will be to save him," warned Sakura.

"Then we must find him and my father as soon as possible," said Gohan. "We know he's going for my father, so let's look for him first."

Meanwhile, Vegita soared through the skies of Zeta Earth, in search of a worthy opponent. He eventually sensed the release of great amounts of ki energy somewhere to the west. Several leagues away, there was a man with spiky black hair who wore an orange martial arts gi. His training partner was an African kid with a black mohawk. The man, Goku Son, hovered in the air several metres before his opponent. He fired a blast of ki which his opponent, Uub, braced himself to take. The beam struck Uub, triggered an explosion which blew up a cloud of dust.

Suddenly, Uub appeared behind Goku! Goku turned around, barely in time to block Uub's punch. Uub tossed two more with a kick for good measure, all of which Goku blocked. Goku threw a kick to the midsection, but Uub caught his foot. He hurled Goku to the ground, but the Saiyan fighter righted himself and landed safely. Goku charged in and hurled a punch, a kick, two more punches, and another kick. Uub avoided each shot and retreated to lower ground. Goku followed, but Uub suddenly vanished and kicked Goku in the back of the head.

Goku landed in a handstand and righted himself. "That's enough for one day."

Before either could leave, Vegita abruptly descended onto their meeting. "Kakarot, I've been looking everywhere for you," stated Vegita.

"Hi Vegita, how are things over at Dome City?" asked Goku to open the conversation.

"I've become far more stronger, in ways you can't begin to imagine," said Vegita. "Fight me, Kakarot. Let me show you my true power!"

"I don't think he's talking about a sparring match," remarked Uub. "I think he means a real fight. He looks dead serious."

"Fight me now, or I'll kill Uub," threatened Vegita. "If you ever want to see him again, you'll have to look in the next dimension."

Both Uub and Goku were not amused by that threat. "He's not joking," remarked Uub seeing the deadly seriousness on Vegita's face. "I can feel it. His power level has increased dramatically. He's much stronger than when we last saw him."

"Yes, and I don't think this is the same Vegita we're dealing with now. He's somehow different now and I'm pretty sure that mark on his forehead has something to do with it," observed Goku. "Uub, please leave this to me. I'll have to go all out."

"But..."

"Warn Trunks and my son. If I fail here, it will fall to them to stop whatever has gotten into Vegita," said Goku.

"Okay, but I'll come back," said Uub. "Be careful master."

"I will," said Goku. He didn't bat a glance as Uub left to warn the others. "Now that we're alone, why don't we just skip the warm up and go straight to the action."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," said Vegita.

Goku called upon the greatest power he had available, Super Saiyan form. His hair turned a bright shade of yellow and his eyes a sparkling green. His body became wreathed by an aura of yellow power as enormous ki power filled him. The aura was like a flame surrounding his body, like he was on fire. Goku raised his fists to his chin, a sign that he meant business and wasn't pussyfooting around. Vegita was quite satisfied with the seriousness with which Goku took their impending battle.

Vegita flew forward and hurled a three punch combo at Goku. Goku blocked the hits and countered with a punch of his own. Vegita blocked and retaliated with another. Goku sidestepped and launched a body kick. Vegita caught his leg and hurled him into the air. Goku somersaulted backwards, then suddenly disappeared. He popped up behind Vegita, sweeping his legs from under him. Goku threw a downward punch, which forced Vegita to roll away.

Vegita suddenly vanished and kicked Goku in the back, propelling him forward. Vegita fired a blast of ki after him, but Goku vanished away. He sensed a large accumulation of ki and looked up to see Goku preparing to launch a Kamehameha at him. The beam came out too soon to dodge, forcing Vegita to cover up. An explosion engulfed the area, covering it with a thick cloud of dust. A ki beam came out of it immediately after, clipping Goku in the chest. As he hurtled back, Vegita appeared above him and punted him into the ground.

As Goku got to a crawling position, Vegita put kicked him in the ribs. Goku tried to get up again, but Vegita went for another kick. This time, Goku caught his foot and yanked Vegita's footing out from under him. Vegita bounced back to a vertical base. He threw a punch which Goku blocked and countered with one of his own. The two traded blows, until Vegita scored a punch to the gut. He grabbed Goku and delivered a knee to the same area. With a powerful punch, Vegita sent Goku to the ground.

Knocked unconscious, Goku's Super Saiyan state dissipated. His hair returned to normal and his aura of power vanished. Vegita looked on at Goku, sprawled at his feet. "Yes, I've done it! I have surpassed Kakarot!"

However, Uub had returned with help in the form Gohan, Trunks, and the Runecaptors. "He got Goku!" cried Trunks as he landed. "Are you happy now dad? Is this what you really wanted?"

"Yes, I have finally surpassed Kakarot. He has denied me everything; always ahead of me, mocking me for being too weak," said Vegita. "Those days are over!"

"You have become drunk with power! Now, that you've beaten Goku, who's next? That Rune has warped your mind. You leave me no choice but to stop it before you get worse," stated Trunks.

Uub, unnoticed during Trunks berating speech, had retrieved Goku. "Is he okay?" asked Gohan.

"He's alive, but he'll need to visit a hospital for treatment," said Uub. "I'll take him back. Please take care of Vegita for me."

"Bah, with my power, I will wipe the floor with all of you. You are no match for me," said Vegita.

"Your power has limits," said Kero. "We are ready for you."

"Okay guys, let's go, stick with the plan," said Shikamaru.

"With pleasure," said Naruto, eager for some payback.

He summoned an army of Shadow Clones blanketing the area and surrounding Vegita. "Not this again... Get a new trick!" said Vegita, filled with ennui.

The clones charged at Vegita, and like before, Vegita demolished them one by one as they came. He punched a clone and kicked a second, causing both to vanish in a puff of smoke. He hurled a ki blast, destroying several with the resulting explosion. More still rushed in, unfazed by the destruction of their counterparts. Two of them tried to kick Vegita simultaneously, only to have him catch their feet. Suddenly, Rock Lee appeared before Vegita! Since the Saiyan's hands were tied, he could not react as Lee kicked him upwards.

As Vegita sailed back, Lee suddenly appeared behind him and mummified him with bandages. He grabbed Vegita and drilled him into the ground. Once Vegita was on his back, Naruto came from above with Rasengan in hand. He plunged the whirling ball of chakra into Vegita's gut, forcing a gasp of agony from his victim. From the air, Gohan fired a Kamehameha, connecting with Vegita's chest. A billowing cloud of smoke formed over the area.

Vegita suddenly darted out, sensing Shikamaru's Shadow Possession coming. "Ha, you won't get me again!" said Vegita.

"Think again!" said Madison.

She extended a tendril of darkness from Shikamaru's Shadow Possession, latching it to the Saiyan's leg. It allowed Shikamaru to link his movements to Vegita's, forcing the Saiyan to do whatever he did. Hinata snuck behind Vegita and unleashed a flurry of Gentle Fist palm strikes to the back. Each hit drilled chakra into Vegita, causing painful stinging all over his back. Shikamaru mirrored Vegita's flailing, yet still managed to maintain his hold. Vegita powered out of the jutsu, breaking Shikamaru's concentration. He punched Hinata in the chin and judo tossed her to the ground.

Rock Lee flew in with a flying kick, which Vegita caught. Vegita threw him away, but Rock Lee somersaulted to safety. Vegita prepared to send a quick ki blast after him, but Gohan cut him off with one of his own. It staggered Vegita, allowing Gohan to close and knee Vegita in the chin. Vegita recovered and caught Gohan's leg as it came in for a kick. Without letting go, Vegita threw a haymaker powerful enough to propel Gohan into the ground.

Before Vegita could make his next move, he was yanked into the sky by a tornado. It hurtled him in a rapid, dizzying circle. Sakura made the tornado release its victim, allowing Vegita to crash to the ground. Trunks appeared above and unloaded punches on his chest. Too dizzy to escape, Vegita took every hit in full force. Trunks balled his hands together and hammered Vegita so as to deepen the indentation in the ground. He backed up and fired a ki blast directly down. As Vegita tried to get up, he was pushed deeper into the ground, unleashing an explosion.

When the smoke cleared, Vegita was unconscious. Kero casually flew up to his forehead and used a capsule. Having taken so much damage, the Ki Rune's bearer was in no position to resist. The Rune popped off of Vegita's head, sucked into the capsule by its magic. "Yep, yep, yep, another one down," remarked Kero.

Trunks flew down to check on his father's condition. "Is he okay?" asked Hinata as she approached. "I hope we weren't too rough with him..."

"No, he's okay. He's just unconscious," said Trunks. "Thank you all. Without your help, we couldn't have done it."

"I'm glad we got to him in time. I'd hate to see what would happen if Vegita had gotten any stronger," remarked Gohan.

"Yeah, you know Gohan, since there are more like them out there, I think you should go with Naruto's group and help them out," said Trunks. "I want to stay behind to take care of father."

"Okay, take care of my dad for me, and Piccolo and Krillin too," said Gohan.

"So you're joining the team?" asked Naruto. "Welcome aboard!"

"I am amazed at what you can do. Is it possible for you to teach me?" asked Rock Lee.

"Lee, you wouldn't be able to learn to fly and shoot ki. It's too dangerous because of Paradox," said Sakura.

"If I can't teach you my ki techniques, there's still plenty of other ways I can help you with," said Gohan.

* * *

With the Ki Rune in their possession and a new ally in Gohan Son, the Runecaptors returned to Crystal Valley triumphant. Sakura and Madison split up to return the Rune to the vault and report their success to Master Reed. In an empty lot, Gohan activated a special Capsule Corp capsule. It enlarged itself into a massive dome-like building. "Wow, cool!" said Naruto. "What's inside?"

Gohan led Team Shikamaru on a tour of the facilities. The bottom floor was a gym stocked with equipment for physical fitness. There were dumbbells and barbells on racks near some benches on the right for weight training. Behind them were equipment such as treadmills for running and stamina training. On the left was a matted area for gymnastics and a fenced-off area for sparring. The floor above was devoted solely to a gravity training device.

"This room is the gravity training room," informed Gohan. "Here, you can change gravity for uniform resistance training. If you want to use it, make sure that you ask me first."

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"It's very dangerous to do this kind of training without supervision. If the gravity is too high, it can crush your bones," warned Gohan. "It has a fail-safe that shuts off the gravity after a certain time, but that can seem like an eternity if you are being crushed."

"Okay teacher, I will make a good note of that," said Rock Lee, ever eager to try out his new toy.

"So, can you turn it on so we can see what it feels like?" asked Naruto.

"Sure," said Gohan. "Computer, set gravity to two times."

The entrance door shut itself and the computer did its work. Suddenly, Naruto felt much heavier than he did before, as did the other ninja. "Whoa, I feel so heavy," remarked Shikamaru. "What a drag!"

"Of course, that's why we use it to train all the time. You haven't seen what it can do," said Gohan. "This thing can go up to a hundred times gravity. At that level, most people would be reduced to a smear on the ground. That's why you should make sure I'm around to supervise if you want to train here. I don't want a repeat of what happened to Vegita."

"What happened to him?" asked Hinata.

"He turned the gravity all the way up to maximum."

"Somehow, I don't think that ended well..." observed Shikamaru.

"Nope, not at all. He got a quick trip to the hospital for that; had several broken bones in his arms and ribs and nearly broke his back," said Gohan. "His wife was pretty mad at how stupid he was. You went through a lot today so we'll skip training for the day. Tomorrow, wake up bright and early at dawn for your first session."

** END OF CHAPTER**

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** SPOTLIGHT: Zeta Earth (Dragonball Z) **

Politics/Demographics:  
Zeta Earth is an alternate Earth in which humans live beside other strange creatures. It has many nations with varying types of governments and is protected by Kami, who watches over the planet from his lookout in the sky. It is a world that has embraced the martial arts, holding great tournaments every year to crown the best fighter in the world. Outside of the planet, there are many alien societies with their own culture, people, and government.

Characters/VIPs:  
Zeta Earth produces some of the most powerful martial artists to ever exist in any anime world. Among them are Gohan and Trunks' families, which trace their ancestry to the mighty Saiyan race. Among their strongest are Goku and Vegita, as well as friends Krillin and Piccolo.

Powers:  
Zeta Earth's martial artists are known for employing one of the most powerful and devastating set of ki powers. Their ki allows any fighter to enhance physical performance and even learn to fly. Their signature ability is to emit ki as blasts which have few rivals in destructive power. Saiyans could even use ki to assume a high-powered state known as "Super Saiyan," dramatically increasing strength, speed, and destructive power. Zeta Earth fighters are truly some of the most fearsome enemies one could ever encounter.

Zeta Earth also has societies which could travel the stars. They have developed incredible miniaturization technology, the leader of which is the Capsule Corp owned by the Trunks' Briefs family. Several alien races also have potent space travel technology, which has been misused to launch invasions against other planets, including Zeta Earth.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Body Rune **  
Domain: Ki, might, body, spirit  
Duality: Physical versus Spiritual  
Appearance: Torso of a muscular man  
Powers: Grants great ki power to bearer

Description:  
The Body Rune, also known as the Ki Rune, is the Rune which represents the power of ki. It is a great nexus of ki, the power used by martial artists, ninja, and Eastern mystics. Although this Rune grants great physical power, it makes its bearer neglect the spiritual side, with an accompanying decrease in morals and ethics. As a result, the bearer cares for nothing but to gain ever greater power, living only to defeat the newest, most powerful opponent.


	13. RU3: Pucella

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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Runecaptors United, part 3: Pucella 

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By Mars near the main planet of Pucella, hundreds of Juraian ships gathered. Based on information from Funaho, they knew that his planet was next on the list of conquest for the Imperials. The Empress faction, those Juraians serving the female royals, such as Misaki, Funaho, and Aeka, were here to lay an ambush for the Imperials. Their last line filled the space near Mars, ensuring that no one could get past with being intercepted. As the weakest of the factions, surprise and expediency was vital for their success in the Juraian civil war.

At Neptune, a second fleet waited by the likely staging area of the enemy's attack. Like the first, its numbers were enough to fill the entirety of space around the planet. One of the fleet's scout ships registered several blips entering it sensor range. "Sir, we've detected a large fleet of ships approaching from hyperspace. They are Juraian in nature and give Imperial communications signals."

The captain of the scout ship informed the rest of the Empress faction fleet. An anxiety filled the air as the crew realized that battle was imminent. After two hours, the first of the enemy ships met with the first of the Empress faction's Neptune fleets. Both sides fired up Light Hawk Wing defensive systems, forming the white wings into protective bubbles around their ships. Beams zinged through the void of space, impacting each side's Light Hawk Wings.

Back at the Martian line, the ships there, including the upgraded Gekko, waited anxiously. "Our Neptunian line has engaged the enemy," said Gidget, the Gekko's communications and sensors operator.

"All KLF units, please report status," said Talho.

"This is the Nirvash, everything's clear," said Renton.

"Devilfish here, nothing to report," replied Holland.

Though nothing happened in space, that wasn't true of the surface of Mars. Several men in fully sealed space suits made the finishing touches in setting up an array of weapons. They resembled artillery mortars, but half the height of a typical human. The tubes rested on a turntable which allowed them to rotate in the direction of their target. One man loaded a missile into the tube and a second rotated to aim at the proper direction. The computer locked onto an Empress faction ship in space and launched a missile into the sky.

The missile made escape velocity and homed in. The missile caught the target's crew off guard and they were unprepared to respond. When the missile struck, it exploded in a massive burst of flame. The Juraian ship, having its engine destroyed by the missile, started to be dragged in by Mars' gravity. As it descended, it became like a meteor, surrounded in an aura of flame. It crashed into the surface with devastating force, leaving a large crater in its wake and flaming wreckage.

"Captain, the Mizu-oh has been shot down!" announced Gidget. More missiles ascended from the surface, striking yet another ship. "The Sakura has been shot down, and the Hitomi!"

"What's going on?" asked Talho.

"Someone is launching missiles from the surface... Crap! One of them is locked on us!" said Gidget.

"Deploy jamming devices! Shoot'em down!" ordered Talho.

The Gekko released small metallic orbs which to attempt to knock the missile guidance systems. The countermeasures didn't seem to work, since the missile continued to correct its course. The Gekko's weapons fired on the missile, trying to hit such a small target with near zero accuracy. However, Holland detected the missile as it broke out of the atmosphere of Mars. He followed in the Devilfish as best he can, firing to destroy the missile. Two of his shots missed their mark and the third came close, but narrowly missed. After his fourth, the beam pierced through the missile, saving the Gekko.

Talho contacted the Nirvash with new orders. "Renton, go to the surface and eliminate whoever's firing those missiles."

"Yes ma'am!" replied the Nirvash pilot.

Renton and Eureka activated a new function installed into the Nirvash by Washu. From several openings in the robot, a clear sticky fluid coated the Nirvash. Once it was finished, Renton and Eureka pulled the Nirvash down for an atmospheric re-entry. The robot became ablaze like a meteor shooting across the sky. Even though the Nirvash heated up from re-entry, the sticky fluid helped to keep it from growing too hot and melting. Once they reached the troposphere, they bled speed to a more manageable level.

Eureka soon picked up several metallic objects on the Nirvash's sensors. After making a flyby, they saw a Juraian commando team huddled around mortars. The commandos fired at the Nirvash with small arms, but Eureka weaved the Nirvash through loops and rapid turns. The Nirvash turned around shot down an enemy missile. It turned on the launcher and fired a beam. The explosion consumed the launcher and the nearby commandos. The Nirvash travelled from area to area, picking off Juraian commando teams.

However, trouble was brewing in space. The front line had been overrun. The first ships of Azusa's fleet reached firing range of the rear defensive line. The Empress faction returned fire, but their total firepower was a drop in a bucket compared to Azusa's. The Juraian commandos had done the damage and Azusa's ships were here to finish the job. The enemy's firepower tore down an Empress ship and then another. The Gekko took a severe hit which rocked the crew.

Talho, regained her composure just in time to be rocked by a second shot. The Devilfish intervened and unloaded firepower on the enemy targeting its mother ship. The Juraian ship burst into flame, its engine rendered unable to prevent gravity from dragging it to a fiery doom. Nevertheless, the Empress Faction was on the brink of defeat. "Renton, Eureka, return to the Gekko," ordered Talho. "We're retreating."

* * *

Renton and Eureka left the Nirvash to get some rest and relaxation. The battle at Pucella was a disaster. The surprise attack by the Juraian commandos had threw the Empress faction fleet into chaos. Once it arrived, Azusa's fleet took full advantage, leading to a rout. Morale plummeted and rumours of a leak in intelligence sprang up. Ed and Al travelled down the road and bumped into the two young lovers. "Oh, hi you two," said Al upon seeing them travelling down a road.

"Oh hi Al, hi Ed," said Eureka.

"Did your mission go well?"

"Not really," said Renton. "The Juraians surprised us. We weren't expecting them to launch missiles from the planet. It messed up our plan so badly that we were forced to retreat."

"Oh, that stinks," remarked Al.

"At least you two made it out okay," said Ed.

Tory approached the group from behind. "Hi you two, I just saw Master Reed. He detected a new Rune in Tokyo-3 at Evangelia. Get ready; I'll fetch the others."

"Sorry about that," said Al. "We have a job to do."

"Nah, it's no problem. We'll see you back once your finished," said Renton.

Tory's team gathered at Clow Reed's translation tent, where he opened a gate to Evangelia. On stepping through, they found themselves in a modern Japanese city. It seemed very normal and typical for a city from Japan, but Tokyo-3 was not like other Japanese towns. It was often the battleground between biological robots known as Evangelions and their counterparts, the Angels. Despite this fact, the city seemed in perfect condition from appearance of its streets.

The Evangelions were assets of NERV, a military organization specialized in combating the Angels. During the Omnipotence War, NERV's Geofront HQ had been attacked by the terrorist group and taken over. The remnants of the organization joined Valiance in an effort to reclaim what they had lost. They fought valiantly in Valiance and eventually took back the Geofront. If the Rune had anything to do with them, it was time to call in some favours.

"So where's this Rune?" asked Ed.

Tory closed his eyes and mentally reached for the Rune's location. He found it and led the group to the entrance of the Geofront itself. The way was blocked by toll booths and NERV soldiers protecting the area. "The Rune is in there," informed Tory.

"How are we going to get inside?" asked Al. "I doubt they will just let us in if we ask them."

"Well, it couldn't hurt to ask," said Tory, going up to a soldier to strike a conversation. "Excuse me, but can we speak with a Major Misato Katsuragi? It's urgent."

Somewhere, down in the Geofront, was a gorgeous violet-haired woman in a red uniform. She was Misato Katsuragi, the same woman Tory wished to see. She was in the Geofront's infirmary, a bland room filled with beds and fluorescent lights. She had a look of concern over her face as she looked down at one of the patients. This patient was a girl whom one she knew quite well. She wiped off the sweat on the girl's brow as she laid motionless in a coma.

The girl was a red head in shorts and a T-shirt. Her clothes were merely the kind worn while lounging around at home. Normally, she would be her boisterous and arrogant self, but now, she was deathly quiet. She had several wires and tubes running into her body from a life support system. It monitored her body's vital signs, showing stability. Her name was Asuka Langley Soryu, one of the child pilots of the Evangelions. Asuka was also an adopted daughter to Misato and it pained her greatly to see her ward like this. On her forehead, glowing softly with white light, was a mark like a Rubin vase.

Misato walked out of the hospital ward and encountered a Japanese boy and an albino Japanese girl. The boy was deeply concerned while the blue-haired girl seemed to show no emotion at all. Nevertheless, her being there was proof that she was worried too. "Has anything changed?" asked the boy.

"No Shinji," replied Misato. "I don't know what to do. The doctors tried everything and it hasn't worked."

"Has Ritsuko learned anything about that mark?" asked the albino girl, Rei Ayanami.

"Nothing really," replied Misato. "The only thing we know is that it is keeping Asuka in her coma. We can't do anything for her now. We'll come back and visit her later."

Shinji and Rei travelled through the Geofront's metal halls on their way out. It was filled with various NERV staff from mechanics to commanding officers. After the Omnipotence War, the Geofront had recovered rapidly. All of the damage had been repaired, and it was as thought nothing had happened. After taking an elevator, they approached the front gate and greeted the guard on the way out. Shinji immediately noticed the Cardcaptors and their allies huddled around in discussion of an unknown topic.

He recognized one of them as a waiter who had served him food in a restaurant. However, he was dressed more like a wizard now, with that black cloak decorated by sun and moon symbolism. "Hey, weren't you a waiter at Sanji's?" asked Shinji. Tory turned to face him.

"Yeah... Yeah, I remember you. You had quite a taste for our spaghetti," remarked Tory. "Nice to meet you, it's been awhile."

Shinji, Rei, and Tory's allies exchanged introductions. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to find a dangerous magical item known as a Rune. One of them is in the Geofront, but the guard won't let us in," said Tory. "I was wondering if you could get Misato Katsuragi or Ritsuko Akagi?"

Shinji was puzzled by what Tory told him. "Ikari," addressed Rei. "They might be referring to that mark on Asuka's forehead. They might know a way to remove it."

"Of course," said Shinji, who proceeded to describe the mark to Tory and Asuka's condition.

"Yes, that sounds like what we're looking for," admitted Tory.

"Can you get it off?" asked Shinji.

"I think so," replied Tory. "Shinji, that mark is very dangerous. We need to remove it quickly, but we still need to get into the Geofront to confirm it."

"Don't worry," assured Shinji. "I'll get Misato."

He ran back into the Geofront. A few minutes later, the guards received a call. They waved the Runecaptors in. "Have we met?" asked Misato who had come to greet them.

"Yeah, I served you and Shinji when you ate at Sanji's restaurant," said Tory.

"Oh right! You were the waiter," said Misato, remembering that event. "Asuka's this way."

Misato led the Runecaptors back to the hospital ward, where Shinji and Rei were waiting. Tory parted some of Asuka's hair to take a good look at the mark. "This is the Dream Rune alright."

"Can you get rid of it?" asked Shinji.

"I should be able to with this capsule," said Tory.

He held the capsule above Asuka's head. The Rune seemed to contort like taffy as it was drawn into the capsule. Asuka's eyes suddenly shot wide open as her body buckled from the Rune being removed. The monitoring equipment started to beep and her life line started to fluctuate erratically. A nurse rushed in to check up on her. "She's going into shock!" the nurse cried.

Tory released the Rune. "No more... I might kill her!"

"Damn, I thought we had the problem solved," remarked Misato.

"Tory, tell us more about that Rune. What is it doing to Asuka?" asked Rei.

"Well, it's the Dream Rune as I said," began Tory. "It controls dreams and illusions. Right now, it is keeping Asuka in a coma and making her have strong dreams."

"Yeah, the doctors did say she was having very vivid dreams while in her coma," said Misato. "What could she be dreaming of?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm sure it's something very personal to her," said Tory. "Now that I think about it, it might her that's keeping me from taking the Rune."

"Is there any other way of breaking her out of that dream?" asked Shinji.

"I guess the only other way would be for me to send someone inside to wake her up, but that's very dangerous," admitted Tory.

"What's is so dangerous about going inside her head?" asked Misato.

"If you should die in the dream world, you'll die for real. The Dream Rune will not let her go without a fight and Asuka won't be of much help either. You must convince her to come back."

"We'll have to take that risk," said Misato.

"...But how are we going to fight that thing?" asked Shinji. "It's not like we take our Evas into her head..."

"Dreams are created by a person's mind. Your thoughts influence what happens there," said Tory.

"We're ready. What do we have to do?" asked Misato.

"Lie down on and close your eyes like your going to sleep," said Tory. "I'll take care of the rest."

Asuka's friends did as Tory requested. Misato, Rei, and Shinji reclined into their pillows and closed their eyes. Tory held his hands aloft, causing the Dream Card to appear. The Evangelion pilots and their commander found themselves standing on a single platform floating in what looked like outer space. The floor was in the likeness of the Dream Card, which depicted a priestess clasping her hands together.

A large image of Tory and his friends appeared before them. "Is everyone okay?" asked Tenchi.

"Yeah, we're fine," said Misato. "So this is the dream world?"

"Yes," replied Tory. "...But you are in not in Asuka's yet. Before we send you in, you'll do some training to get accustomed to fighting in the dream world."

Tory changed the dream space into a familiar street in Tokyo-3. He summoned three robotic dream creatures into being. They had smooth round heads and metal bodies which resembled dresses which reached all the way to the ankles. Behind the bottom of the dress were wheels used for propulsion. "Robots?" asked Shinji.

"Test dummies," replied Tory. "Don't worry, they won't shoot unless I tell them to. Take control of your dreams and use the power to destroy these robots. Misato, why don't you go first?"

Misato desired a weapon, and suddenly conjured a pair of handguns into her hands. She fired a volley at the robots and took them all down. Tory made more, which she destroyed by ricocheting bullets off of the ground and walls into them. Next, Tory created animate versions which fired back. Misato, desiring protection, created an AT Field to shield herself from their energy bolts. She immediately countered, hitting the first with several rounds which impacted a protective energy barrier.

"Damn," she remarked on seeing the barrier flicker into visibility.

The robots fired at her but she dove behind a wall for cover. The robots continued to fire at her, keeping her pinned down. She saw the building next door and got an idea. She hopped up to the roof by leaping from wall to wall. When she reached the top, she pelted the robots with blind shots. After she had destroyed one, the other two corrected their aim. She somersaulted away, firing while turning in her somersault. The beams streaked by, but missed. The robots, however, were torn to shreds, exploding just as landed on her feet.

"Cool huh?" asked Misato, twirling her guns and holstering them.

"Wow!" said Shinji, having watched all this from a distance.

"Your turn Shinji," said Tory. "Let's see what you can do."

Tory reset the target robots and all of the damage done by Misato. However, Shinji wasn't as confident as her guardian. Being so unsure of himself, he was not able to manifest his power as well as Misato did. He just wanted to hide and vanished from the sight of Tory's friends. "Where did he go?" asked Ryoko.

"He's still there, just invisible," informed Tory.

"Come on Shinji! You can do better than that!"

Shinji struggled with inner turmoil before finally mustering the willpower. As a result, a surge of electricity radiated from his body, devastating the robots. All that remained was smouldering metal and plastic. "Wow!" remarked Misato.

"Good," remarked Tory. "Keep that up."

Tory ran Shinji through more training, which the boy stumbled through initially. Eventually, even he mastered how to operate in the dream world. Tory reseted the simulation for Rei to begin. Rei immediately froze the robots in ice. They were so brittle that when she blew over them, they shattered. Tory reset the simulation, putting resisting robots in. When they fired at her, she raised an AT Field in defence. She vanished and reappeared behind the robots. Before they could readjust their aim, the robots were frozen solid.

"Good," remarked Tory. "I think it's time I send you into Asuka's dream. We'll help you from this end as much as we can. Good luck."

In a flash of light, the training space vanished and the world of Asuka's dreams replaced it. The three found themselves in the middle of an unknown city. Every sign on the stores were written in German. "Where are we?" asked Shinji.

"We must be in Berlin," replied Misato. "This is Asuka's home before she became an Eva pilot, before she joined us over at Japan's NERV branch."

"Where is Asuka now?" asked Rei.

"I don't know," replied Misato. "Tory, do you have any idea?"

"See if you can feel where she is. Close your eyes and let your feelings for her guide you," said Tory.

The trio closed their eyes and shut out all distractions from their other senses. With their feelings for her, they reached out and found where she was hiding. "Okay, we know where she is. Let's go," said Misato.

The trio travelled down the streets of Berlin and found their friend seated in a Japanese restaurant, eating sushi for lunch. "Asuka," said Shinji.

"Do I know you?" asked Asuka.

"Of course you know me. It's me, Shinji, Shinji Ikari, the Eva pilot? We fight Angels in Tokyo-3 with Rei and Misato here. I pilot Unit 01."

Rei attempted a more direct approach. "Asuka, this is all a dream. We're here to rescue you."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you three are creeping me out," said Asuka. "Get away from me!"

Asuka finished up her meal and left the restaurant. "The Rune's hold is stronger than I imagined," admitted Tory. "You have to keep working on her. Make her remember the life you had."

"Easier said than done," remarked Shinji.

"Just keep talking to her," said Tory.

The trio followed Asuka back to her school, trying to be stealthy as they did so. The trio hid behind some garbage as they watched Asuka enter the grounds of a German middle school. When she entered the track area, they snuck to a wall to keep watch on her. Asuka, however, had seen them. "I know you're there, so come out!" she cried, which the trio did so. She was exasperated. "Not you guys again!"

"Asuka, please come back with us. This world and everything here isn't real. We are real; me, Rei, Shinji, and Ritsuko," said Misato.

"Go away!" said Asuka.

She suddenly started to get a migraine and began to clutch at her head in agony. "What's happening to her?" asked Rei.

"She's beginning to remember bits and pieces of her former life," replied Tory. "Keep at it. Talk about the good times you had with her. Anything to get her to remember."

Suddenly, a Japanese woman appeared. This woman bore the mark of the Dream Rune on her forehead. "Leave my daughter alone!" said the woman.

The woman summoned numerous creatures which were essentially animate rag dolls. All of them bore an eerie, downright disturbing resemblance to Asuka. Each brandished an instrument of murder, from kitchen knives to axes and leered menacingly at the team. "It's okay," said the woman. "Mommy's here for you. I'll make the bad people go away."

She took Asuka into her arms and vanished, leaving Misato, Rei, and Shinji went on guard. The dolls charged forward, forcing the trio to defend themselves. Misato unleashed several rounds of fire, scoring several torso shots to three Asuka dolls and a head shot on a fourth. Shinji blasted the dolls with lightning, igniting the dolls stuffing. They went up in flames and burnt down into ash. Rei froze several more with a blast of ice.

An Asuka doll cut Shinji in the cheek with a razor. In the real world, a cut appeared on the physical Shinji's cheek. "Shinji just got cut," announced Tenchi.

As nurses came to bandage the wound, the battle in the dream world continued. Shinji blasted that attacker with lightning. The doll burst into flame and fell to the ground in flames. The dolls dwindled in number as the trio killed them off. "That was close," remarked Shinji, wincing at the cut on his cheek. "Who was that with Asuka just now?"

"That was her mother, Kyoko," replied Misato. "She had committed suicide when Asuka was a little girl. Poor thing saw her body."

"Ow, she must have suffered a lot," remarked Shinji.

"There was a Dream Rune was on her forehead," remarked Rei.

"Yes," Tory chimed in. "I believe the Rune is using Asuka's memory of her mother to infiltrate her mind."

"Is that so? It's just toying with her feelings!" said Shinji.

"Yeah, I know," agreed Misato.

"Now you see why you must get her to snap out of it. She can't live like this forever. It's not real," observed Tory.

* * *

Somewhere in Berlin, Asuka and Kyoko hit a clothing boutique. Asuka held a small white summer dress against her body and looked at herself in a mirror to picture herself in it. "Mommy, does this look good on me?" asked Asuka.

"It's beautiful dear. You'd look gorgeous in it," replied Kyoko.

"Okay, I want this one," said Asuka.

After Kyoko paid for the dress at the counter, the two went home, carrying bags of merchandise. The trio suddenly reappeared in front of Asuka. "You again!" remarked Kyoko.

"Yes, we want to take our friend home," said Misato. "Stop taking advantage of her feelings!"

"You won't have her. All she would go back to is suffering and sadness. She'll be much happier in here," said Kyoko.

Even Shinji was growing frustrated now. "...And what about the happiness she has made so far? If she stays here, she'll lose all that, all of the memories and things we have shared," said Shinji. "We can't let that happen!"

"You idiot! Of all times to grow a spine, you have to pick now," scolded Asuka sarcastically.

The others were surprised and pleased with this development. "Indeed," agreed Rei.

"Who asked you?" asked Asuka sarcastically.

"You won't have her!" said Kyoko, starting to rave madly. "She's my little girl. You've soiled her! You turned her against me! I'll make you pay!"

Kyoko summoned more creatures to fight by her side. Unlike the dolls, these ones resembled birds of glowing white light. "Angels?" asked Rei.

"Arael," whispered Misato.

Arael was the same Angel who had rendered Asuka unable to pilot Evas for a time. Its mental attack had brought back traumatic memories which she thought had been dealt with. These clones of Arael swarmed the trio. Shinji blasted one with lightning, picking off two more for the price of one. A third fired a beam at him, which he blocked with an AT Field. Shinji retaliated, electrocuting it with an immensely powerful jolt. A fourth came at him, but he vanished and reappeared behind while it looked around puzzled. Shinji blasted that one too, reducing it to the stuff that dreams were made of.

Rei blasted an approaching Arael with ice. While distracted with that enemy, Kyoko blindsided her and slammed her against a wall. Her hand was around Rei's neck, squeezing the air out of her. However, this Kyoko was merely a clone of the one standing beside Asuka. That one, likely the original, was clutching Asuka's arm tightly. "Fight her Wondergirl, I know you can do better than that!" cried Asuka.

In the real world, Rei's hands were around neck, as though trying to loosen something imaginary around her neck. Rei struggled to raise a hand. "Let... me... go!" she got out, just before spraying ice directly into the Kyoko clone's face. The clone froze solid and the moment Rei shoved her, she fell to pieces.

Misato gunned down more Arael clones, which dropped out of the sky like dead flies. As she fired at others, one blindsided her and picked her up to the sky. More joined the first and held onto her limbs to keep her from fighting. They transformed into a wooden crucifix onto which Misato was tied. The Arael did the same to Shinji and Rei. Gloating over her captured prisoners, Kyoko approached Shinji. "How unfortunate. They a dream can turn into a nightmare and it looks like it's now true for you," said Kyoko.

Kyoko traced a line over Shinji's chest, opening a cut from which blood seeped. Shinji screamed in agony. "Do something!" said Tenchi to a nurse tending to Shinji's bleeding real body.

"Get them out there!" said Ryoko.

"I'm trying," said Tory. "...But the Rune is fighting me. It's trapped them in the dream world too."

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" cried Asuka.

"Be quiet dear, mommy's going to punish the bad people who are trying to take you away," said Kyoko. She made a cut across Rei's chest, as slowly as she possibly could to maximize her agony. Rei's blood seeped out of the gash.

"You're not my mommy!" said Asuka. "My mommy was kind and gentle. She would never do this to one of my friends. You're a phony!"

Asuka formed a new cross and the false Kyoko onto it. As ropes tied her down, Kyoko quickly broke free. Before Kyoko could do anything, Asuka was on her, tearing out her hair. Kyoko grabbed Asuka by the throat and slammed her to the ground. "If you won't accept me, than maybe one of your friends will..."

Kyoko, moved for Shinji, but Asuka got up and tackled her to the ground. Asuka yanked at Kyoko's hair and threw punches randomly at her face. She had bombarded Kyoko's face so much that it began to bruise and bleed. In the real world, the Rune began to contort on her forehead as Asuka attacked it in the dream world. "That's my cue!" said Tory.

Tory pulled out the capsule and pointed it at the Rune in the Real World. It strained like a piece of hot taffy and as it was drawn in like a vacuum. In the dream world, a black disc appeared underneath Kyoko as she struggled with Asuka. It was like a hungry maw, trying to devour her alive. Kyoko held on, despite Asuka's punches and hair pulling. "That's it, keep doing it!" cheered Ed from the Real World.

Kyoko extended her arm and grabbed Asuka by the face. Suddenly, a blast of ice froze Kyoko, causing her to release Asuka. As a result of the Asuka and Kyoko fighting, Rei and the others had broken free. Shinji blasted Kyoko, the lightning dancing all over her body. Rei continued to freeze Kyoko; the frost coating her body as a sign of the damage Kyoko had taken. All the while, Misato unloaded ammunition down at her.

Kyoko lost her hold and the hole swallowed her. In the Real World, the Rune popped off of Asuka's head, sucked into the capsule. Asuka and the others woke up, glad to be finally out of that nightmare. Shinji and Misato gave Asuka a hug. "Good work, this one was all yours," said Tory. "You did well."

"Thank you Tory. We couldn't do it without you," said Misato.

"Thanks, but our work still isn't done. There are others like it out there," said Tory. "We could use the help."

"I see," replied Misato. "I'll pull some favours with the brass. NERV will help you with those other ones."

** END OF CHAPTER**

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** SPOTLIGHT: Evangelia (Neon Genesis Evangelion) **

Politics/Demographics:  
Evangelia is a world much like our own, but has suffered the apocalyptic events known as the Second and Third Impacts. They have killed off billions of people, but those who survived still have to contend with the creatures known as the "Angels" which constantly attack human settlements. As a result, the world is heavily militarized and most of Evangelia's resources are being diverted to the military when not used to recover from the Impacts.

Characters/VIPs:  
Those who joined the Runecaptors are key members of NERV. The first group is the three Children who the pilot the Evangelions, Shinji, Rei, and Asuka. Their superior, Misato Katsuragi, is a Major in NERV and also the guardian of Shinji and Asuka while they're staying in Japan.

Powers:  
Evangelia is largely a world under scientific laws. Despite the damage done to it by the Impacts, it boasts a level of technology slightly greater than that of the human world. It has successfully created energy-based weapons for the Evas as well as electronics to control and clone the Angelic life they are based on.

It also touches on the power of psionics with the AT Fields. It is possible to use specific types of AT Fields to attack the mind and create structures like a black hole.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Dream Rune **  
Domain: Dreams, illusions, fantasy, desires  
Duality: Dreams versus Illusions  
Appearance: Rubin Vase drawn with white lines  
Powers: Enter dreams, control dreams, create illusions

Description:  
This True Rune governs the dreams and desires of humanity. It grants its holder the power to enter and control dreams, as well as cast powerful illusions. Though dreams are necessary, the holder of the Rune follows dreams to such an extent that they essentially live in a world of make-believe. They are totally out of touch with reality.


	14. Druggies 1: The Fall of Pucella

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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7 Fold Druggies, part 1: The Fall of Pucella 

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The battle at Pucella was an utter disaster for the Empress faction and its Runecaptor allies. The Runecaptor leadership demanded to know what went wrong and so convened a meeting to discuss this very issue. Captain Jurgens, a key leader of this operation, read out a report from his computer terminal. "Our losses number nearly half of the units we sent to defend Pucella. About half an hour after the enemy had been sighted, Juraian commandos launched surface-to-space missiles upon our rear line from the surface of Mars. This prevented us from putting the Imperials in a pincer as they forced through, causing us to rout."

Talho raised her hand to speak. "They knew we were coming! There was no way they could have had the time to set up these commandos the way they did."

"Yes, the fleet captains' reports suggest that this would be the case," remarked Iroh. "Someone in our group or Misaki's is leaking information to the Imperial faction."

"A spy, but who could it be?" asked Talho.

"We don't know that yet," said Iroh. "Make no mistake though, we are placing a high priority on removing this spy. We can not afford another Pucella. Since this is a sensitive security matter, you are not permitted to speak of this outside this room. Thank you for you time. Dismissed."

The ship captains and commanders left the room. Aeka, Iroh, and Reed met again in Iroh's office to discuss the mole further. Everyone was visibly frustrated, knowing that someone was traitor, yet not who it was and thus being unable to stop him or her. Nevertheless, Aeka opened a secure line of communication with Misaki. Seeing her mother brightened her spirits. "Hi mommy! Is everyone okay there?"

"We're fine," replied Misaki. "Even though we suffered great losses, we aren't quitting yet."

"Good, there's something we need to discuss with you."

"Yes, Pucella... Based on how the Imperials were able to install so many commandos near our fleets, it's clear the enemy knew beforehand where our fleets would be. We believe that someone is leaking vital information to the Imperials," informed Reed.

"Yes, that thought had occurred to me too," said Misaki. "The problem is, is the from my group or yours?"

"I believe that the mole is a part of our group, due to its nature. This mole would have to be very high in our leadership to have the information he or she did," admitted Aeka. "He knew very specific details about our strategy in Pucella. Father's forces knew exactly how to respond to us."

"I see. This really narrows down the field. In that case, could you guess as to who it might be?" asked Misaki.

"Not yet, we're going to investigate this matter further," replied Aeka. "There aren't many of us so it shouldn't be too difficult. Mommy, have Aunt Funaho investigate from her end."

"Of course, we'll take care of things here," assured Misaki.

* * *

The Juraian Imperials were relentless in their assault on Pucella. Beams of energy descended from the heavens, pummelling military installations around the world. From the surface, nuclear rockets soared leaving plumes of smoke in their wake. As the rockets reached escape velocity, they showed up as dots on Imperial scanners. In response, the Imperial ships all raised Light Hawk Wings. Walls of white light appeared in space and formed protective shells around the Juraian invasion fleet.

The most impenetrable defence system, all the missiles exploded on contact. They let out a massive flashes of light like stars going supernova in the distant void. They were visible even from the ground. The nukes exploded in a barrage near a single Imperial ship. They tore through the shield and ripped the ship to pieces. However, this destroyed ship was the only loss the Imperials suffered. The Imperials renewed the attack, ravaging the surface of the planet of its military forces.

Once the surface-to-space missiles were destroyed, the Imperials started sending ships to the surface. Rifts in space opened in the sky, like gaping maws into the black vacuum. Imperial drop ships poured out and landed at key strategic locations. Countless soldiers and military vehicles like tanks took their first step on Pucellan soil. Under the cover of their mother ships, they began to create bases to press further. The Pucellan military mobilized to counter, sending equally large numbers of units to attack.

In a hidden location away from the fighting, several girls watched the events happen anxiously on television in a lounge. "I can't sit here and watch anymore. Those Juraians are destroying everything. We're like superheroes. We need to do something!" urged a woman with spiky red hair.

The woman, Midori Sugiura, was one member of a group of superhuman young women. Using light itself, they could create solid objects from sheer energy to matter conversion. Both this process and the women who employed it were known as Hime, after the Japanese word for princess. These girls all attended the same school, Fuka Academy, and in Midori's case, she was a teacher there. During the orbital bombardment, their school had been razed by the Juraians.

Now, they were in hiding in a secret Searrs Corporation compound. A blond-haired man in glasses approached the Hime. "That's not a wise course of action. We don't know what those aliens are capable of. If we rush in, we could be running right into a trap."

"Mr. Smith, we can't sit around here doing nothing," said Midori. "They've already levelled our school and taken nearly half of Japan in a single day."

"Yes, I know that, but Searrs is almost ready to go into full production of our Otome nanomachines," announced Smith. "Soon, we'll outfit several of the world's servicewomen and crush the Juraians."

"By then, there might not be a world left to save. The Juraians might have the whole world under their control," warned Arika, a brunette with two braids in her hair. "Besides, those things only work in women. If any male DNA gets on them, they're useless."

"I know, I know, but it's the best shot we've got," said Smith. "Our current military is outmatched against the Juraians. If we can create Otome, we might have a chance of surviving this."

"Well, you just do that. I'm tired of sitting around and doing nothing. I'm going to fight. Who's with me?" asked Midori.

All of the girls cheered unanimously in favour of Midori's course of action. Smith sighed. "Alright go, but Arika and Nina, you're staying here," said Smith. "Someone must guard this place while Midori goes off to play hero."

The Juraians continued their assault of Pucella with a relentless vigour unseen in most enemies. Their ships bombarded from orbit, free from any retaliation once all of Pucella's nuclear launch sites had been destroyed. Juraian troops, with their personal shields and energy weapons, had the firepower of an entire army platoon in a single soldier. Even attempts at acquiring and using these weapons proved useless, let alone reverse engineering. Whenever, anyone Pucellan tried to do so, the weapons malfunctioned, as though they were direct opposition to Pucella's scientific laws.

The Juraians consumed more and more of Tokyo City. One of their assault ships loomed over it ominously while soldiers slaughtered Japanese civilians in the city. A bolt of fire melted its way through the ship, right out the other end. The attacker, a buxom Hime, took her mechanical dragon inside and attacked from within. She sprayed fire over all Juraians who dared resist and burned the ship's central tree to ash. The powerless ship crashed to the ground in a heap of charred wood and metal scrap.

A violet mechanical hydra lunged at a squad of Juraians and crushed them in its teeth. Its controller, a brunette Japanese woman in a kimono, descended from one of the creature's heads. She created a naginata and cut down three soldiers with ease. Other Juraians turned on her, only to find the blade extending to them with a chain. She wrapped the whole group up with the chain and whipped them at the charred remains of a car.

A mechanical wolf leapt onto another Juraian squad and sprayed a gust of icy wind upon them. The chill touch of the air formed a layer of ice over them until they were all entombed in the crystalline substance. The wolf's mistress emerged from cover and fired on another Juraian squad, dropped each with a single shot from her handguns. The Juraians, beaten back by these new attackers, turned and fled. "They're turning tail and running," remarked Midori, watching the whole incident unfold right before her eyes.

"Yes, we've beaten them, but they'll come back sooner or later," said the hydra's master, Shizuru.

The war continued on. Wherever the Juraians attacked in Japan, the Hime were there to blunt their offensive. Reports from the front lines returned to the leader of the Imperials himself, Azusa Jurai. "What's going on? Why is it so hard to take one little planet?" asked the Emperor.

"Sir, we've encountered heavy resistance from the planet's forces" reported a Juraian commander. "Reports have indicated they are a band of about a dozen women who control an equal number of mechanical creatures."

"I don't want to hear excuses! Stop them or it will be your life on the line!" said Azusa.

"Y... Y... Yes my Emperor," said the commander.

Back at the Searrs hideout, the Himes celebrated their victories over the Juraians. "Great work girls," announced a violet-haired girl, Fuka Academy's director, Mashiro Kazahana. "We've almost liberated Japan on our own. The JSDF is reclaimed the territory it lost and the Juraians are in full retreat."

"Yeah, we're heroes alright. I'm sure we'll get a medal for this," said Midori.

"Definitely," agreed Mashiro. "We've almost freed Japan. Tomorrow, we go after the mother ship for the region."

That day, the Himes travelled to the northern most island of Japan, Hokkaido. Their pets, the Children, sped through the air over the waters. In the distance, was the Juraian mother ship, which controlled the enemy's forces in Japan. It was hovering above a mountain, firing back at the JSDF which shelled it. Explosions burst in the air, followed by the ship retaliating with a beam. As the Himes closed, the JSDF backed off to allow them through.

The mother ship turned its attacks on them, shooting a beam of blue light. The Hime banked away while continuing their approach. The ship fired more but its shots missed their target. The Himes entered attacking range and pelted the ship with elemental blasts. The ship raised a Light Hawk Wing barrier to blunt the attacks. Unfazed, the Himes pressed the assault, intent on wearing down that barrier. More beams came at the Himes, but they dodged or had their Children block the attacks.

Mai's Child, the dragon-like Kagutsuchi, jetted several balls of flame at the shield. The fireballs impacted the shield, weakening the Light Hawk Wing under the intense heat. The ship tried to shoot back, but Kagutsuchi banked away. However, Shizuru's Child, the hydra-like Kiyohime used this chance to slip through. It spit jets of silvery liquid at the ship. This deadly, poisonous acid coated a part of the chassis and started to melt inward. The ship fired at Kiyohime, but missed with it banking away. Mai sent a fireball directly into the hole, sending the ship went down in flames.

* * *

After a sweeping victory, the Hime returned to their hideout, a lab complex somewhere in the suburbs of the city. It was typical building which didn't stand out. It looked just like any of the other business buildings in the district. There were security guards patrolling the area on watch for suspicious activity and trespassers. The Hime descended in a nearby park and walked the rest of the way. After such a gruelling battle, the Hime hit the lounge to relax and celebrate.

"Thanks to the work of the Hime, the Juraian invasion force in Japan had been neutralized," reported a woman on television. "The JSDF has turned the tide against the Jurai and have pushed them back to mainland China."

Smith came to check upon the girls, who were in high spirits following their attack on the capital ship. "Good work girls," he began. "It looks like our luck's changing. Our spies have reported that your little stunt at Hokkaido has infuriated the Juraian Emperor. He's coming here to take of you personally."

"Really? That means we have perfect opportunity to take him out and end the war in one shot!" said Midori.

"Yeah, this is good for us!" said Mai.

"Wait a minute, am I the only one that senses something fishy about this?" asked Yukino, an introverted girl wearing glasses.

"Not really, why would the Juraian Emperor risk himself to come all the way out here?" asked Nao, a red-headed girl. "It's like he's asking for someone to attack him. He's up to something."

"Even so, this is a great opportunity we can't ignore. Without space ships, there's only so much we can do to fight back. If we can lure out the Emperor and take him out, that's the end of everything," said Mai.

Smith sighed. "Okay then, let's take a vote. All in favour, raise your hands." When Smith called the vote, nine of the twelve Hime raised their hands in favour. When he called for the "nay" vote, only three people did the same. The "ayes" had it. Smith immediately had his intelligence contacts search for information on when the Juraian Emperor would arrive and where he could be found. In the meantime, the Hime continued the campaign against Azusa.

Then, the moment they awaited finally arrived. Azusa's ship descended to the planet's surface above Kyushu Island. It bombarded the island with several beams, scarring the land black with charcoal. With the arrival of their Emperor, the forces of Jurai rallied at the island. From there, they moved northeast to Honshu, where they left melted tanks and soldier corpses in their wake. After Smith's contacts interrogated captured Juraians, Smith came back to the Himes with information.

"That new ship leading the assault is the Kirito, the Emperor's personal ship," announced Smith.

Midori was elated. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go over there and kick his butt!"

"YEAH!" cheered the girls.

"Okay girls, I know you're dead set on this but be careful. We don't know what he's capable of. Be prepared for anything," warned Smith.

The Hime travelled over the ocean like before, racing to battle against the Juraian Emperor Azusa. His presence Pucella had presented them with a golden opportunity to end the invasion and drive the invaders from their lands. Once they felled the Emperor, there would be no one to lead the empire and it would crumble. They were in high spirits to know that the end of the invasion was within their grasp. They sped over the land of Japan, speaking not a single word, with bated breath from anticipation. The shape of Kirito loomed in the distance, calling to the Hime to it. This was the final showdown.

When Mai approached the ship on the back of Kagutsuchi, the Kirito fired at her. She quickly evaded and had her Child spew a ball of flame. As the fireball billowed forward, the Kirito brought a trio of Light Hawk Wings into being and folded them into a shell around the ship. The flames washed over the barrier and died down without doing any damage. Mai turned Kagutsuchi around for a second pass which hit the barrier and did no more harm than the first.

Shizuru directed Kiyohime to launch her own attack. The violet hydra spewed a jet of hissing acid. Upon hitting the Light Hawk Wing, the acid hissed much more loudly and released a soft mist into the air. "This barrier's stronger than any we're seen," remarked Shizuru.

A man's image appeared above the Kirito. "So, you are the ones who have been giving my men so much trouble..."

"Yeah, we are. Got a problem with that?" asked Midori defiantly.

"Do you know who I am? I am Emperor Azusa of Jurai!" announced the man. "I am here to personally put an end to your little rebellion. You will bow down before the Empire of Jurai or you will receive only death."

"Hah, we will never bow down to you!" said Natsuki. "You started this war, but now, we're going to end it."

"Indeed, I am right here. Come and get me, if you dare!" said Azusa.

Midori took him up on that challenge, advancing to initiate the next round of battle. Her armadillo-lion hybrid of a Child, Gakutenou, blasted forward like a living torpedo. It hit the Light Hawk Wing barrier, only making a small but insignificant scratch on it. The Child flew away and turned around to fire a missile. It it hit the very same spot, causing almost no damage. Not content to sit there and take attacks, the Kirito spawned a golden hydra's head. The snarling beast spewed a roaring blast of golden flame. Unable to dodge, the flames engulfed Midori and Gakutenou in its fury and sent them plummeting to the ground like a pair of meteors.

"Teacher!" cried Mai.

Azusa conjured a second head, which spewed a blast of lightning. It caught Mai and sent her into agonizing convulsions along with Kagutsuchi. The Child gave out and plummeted to the ground to join Midori. "Mai!" cried Mikoto, concerned about her friend.

"We have to destroy those things," said Shizuru. "Everyone, focus your attack on the heads!"

The Himes dodged the blasts of flame and lightning spewed by the heads of the golden hydra. Shizuru saw an opening and had Kiyohime spit acid into the back of the fire-breathing head. The acid corroded it away instantly. Nothing was left. Diana, the plant-like Child, wrapped several vines around the lightning head to bind its jaws shut. The tiger Child, Hari, hurled blades of air which severed the head. Separated from the ship, the head fell and vanished.

"Now for the ship," said Shizuru.

Suddenly, a third head spawned from the ship. It let out a roar of a battle cry and suddenly, the other two heads reformed! They were completely healed, no worse for wear. "Oh great..." said Shiho, demoralized by the enemy's renewed strength.

The healing head roared and created some sort of gravitational crushing effect on Diana. It pulled the Child out of the sky on a one way collision course with the ground. The fire head spew fire and torqued its head to catch Kiyohime, Duran, and a Child resembling a knight chess piece. The lightning head repeated a similar attack from the other direction, knocking the other Himes out of the sky. They all fell and were sprawled on the ground unconscious.

Not too soon after, Azusa approached the bodies of the unconscious Hime. He rolled Shizuru onto her back. He created a sliver of the Sovereign Rune in his hand and brushed away her hair to insert it into her forehead. Her body stiffened as the Rune's power took it over. Her eyes shot open and returned to glazed over, seemingly hypnotized appearance. When she arose, she knelt before Azusa, her new master. "I am yours to command, my master?" asked Shizuru her voice hollow and devoid of emotion like a robot.

Azusa placed similar slivers into the heads of the other Hime, enslaving them to the will of the Sovereign Rune. Now that the Hime were his to command, he gave them their first order. "Take me to where John Smith is hiding," commanded Azusa.

"As you wish, my master," said Shizuru.

The Himes boarded their Children, reborn under the glory of the Sovereign Rune's power. The Hime led the Kirito and its fleet to the lab where they stayed between battles against the Jurai. Arika and Nina, two Otome, flew out to meet them. "Mai, the Juraians have followed you back to our base!" said Nina. "We've got to delay them so that Smith has time to escape!"

"Yes, we brought them here," replied Mai.

"Why would you do that?" asked Arika in shock.

"The holder of the Sovereign Rune is our lord and master. All hail, Emperor Azusa!" said Mai.

Mai hurled a fireball right into Arika's chest. "Arika!" cried Nina.

Realizing the Hime had been subverted and controlled, Nina retaliated. She fired a beam of violet-black energy at Mai. It blew her off of Kagutsuchi, taking her out of the fight. Natsuki quickly closed in and fired. Nina deflected the icy bullets with her sais. Kiyohime blindsided her with a gout of acid. It smeared all over her body and agonizingly burnt her out of the sky. "Forget about them," ordered Azusa. "Find Smith!"

The Hime led Azusa's ship right to the Searrs lab in the suburbs. They descended on the building, cutting down their former allies in the security forces. In the heart of the complex, security reported the betrayal of the Hime to Smith. "Azusa got to them. We have to get out of here!" commanded Smith.

The security guards rushed Smith out of the room, unaware that they were being watched from afar. Diana's mirrors reflected his location to its Hime mistress. Smith grabbed a fire axe and chopped down a segment of wall. It was weaker that the rest, not as reinforced by the cement. Behind it was a door, which opened into a long escape tunnel. The security team led Smith through this tunnel right into the wilderness out of the city.

Due to Diana's spying, the Hime knew where he was going before he even got there. As soon as the security team emerged in a forested clearing, Natsuki and Shizuru closed on them. The armed guards opened fire. Duran put his body before his mistress to blunt the shots. Under this cover, Natsuki fired at them, picking them off with ice bullets one by one. With the men felled, Shizuru leapt off of Kiyohime and held Smith at naginata point. She led him back to the lab and to Azusa, who had a round of questioning. "Where is the Voice Rune?" asked Azusa.

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Smith.

"Don't lie to me! I know you have it," stated Azusa. "Tell me where it is or I'll make you talk!"

"NO!" said Smith defiantly.

"Fine then, you leave me no choice," Azusa lamented.

He turned his left hand into a golden hydra's head. It opened its mouth and spewed electricity upon Smith. Convulsing in agony, Smith couldn't even scream as he fell to the ground. Even after the shocking was over, Smith was still writhing in pain on the ground. Even as he was tortured, he was still not going to divulge the information. Azusa blasted him again, with greater power than before. He did it again and again, until Smith could not bear it any longer.

He confessed the location. Azusa travelled to the heart of the lab and found a store room near one of the major labs. He turned a knob hidden behind some shelved lab equipment and a secret door swung open. He found a safe inside and ripped the steel door from its hinges. Within the safe was an emblem resembling a pair of lips. It was the Voice Rune, that which controlled language and communication. Azusa formed a sphere of coherent light and safely contained the Rune within. He smiled in satisfaction with his prize.

* * *

Elsewhere in the suburbs, Arika groggily got up. "Owww..." she groaned as she shook out the stars in her head. She found herself lying in the middle of an abandoned street, cracked from the fighting and littered with debris. She heard someone moving nearby and the source revealed herself to be Nina. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but I wasn't able to stop them. They knocked me out," said Nina. "I came to just a few minutes before you did. It's safe to assume they got Smith."

"Damn!" cursed Arika.

"There's nothing we can do," Nina lamented. "Look what the Hime did to us. They outnumber us and are stronger too. We don't stand a chance. We have to go into hiding and think of our next move."

"Where should we go?" asked Arika.

"Smith introduced me to some of his contacts in the Japanese resistance forces. We'll join with them," said Nina.

The duo make their way out of the ruined neighbourhood fortunate that no one, not even Diana's mirrors, had spotted them. They soon entered the densest areas of Tokyo City, now under occupation by the Juraians. Careful to avoid guards, Arika pointed out a bombed out clothing boutique, which they could raid for disguises. Most of the clothes had been burn or buried under rubble leaving the pickings slim. Nevertheless, they were able to find veils and hats which were perfect to conceal their faces and hair. They walked into a crowd of people and disappeared.

** END OF CHAPTER**

** SPOTLIGHT: Pucella (Mai Hime) **

Politics/Demographics:  
Pucella is a world much like our own, in political, social, and technological ways. Governments run the gamut from dictatorships to democracies like in modern Earth. Many of the important events relating to the Hime happened in Japan, however.

Characters/VIPs:  
The Hime and their counterparts, the Otome, are a group of girls who attend Fuka Academy. The Himes include Mai, Natsuki, and Mikoto, who are key figures among them. Natsuki's lesbian lover, Shizuru, is also Fuka Academy's student council president. Midori, another Hime, is a teacher at the academy. Some notable Otome include Arika and Nina.

Powers:  
The powers of a Hime are psionic in nature. Their greatest asset, the bio-mechanical creatures known as the "Children," require the life of someone emotionally important as collateral, which can include another Hime. Should the Child die, this person held as collateral dies as well. However, Searrs had successfully created nanomachine copies to erase this weakness. Even without Children, Hime can form weapons from photons and fire elemental and energy blasts.

Science in Pucella has evolved to the point where they can produce powerful nanomachines. Though in infancy, this nanomachine technology can be used to create Otome, an artificial variant of the Hime. Otomes can activate gems to put on battle attire which grant Hime-like powers, but without Children. The nanomachines also have a critical flaw in that a male's androgen destroy them.

** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Voice Rune **  
Domain: Sound, communication, language  
Duality: Comprehension vs. Deafness  
Appearance: A pair of lips  
Powers: Sonic attacks, hear sound over vast distances, language comprehension

Description:  
This Rune grants power over sound and the ability to communicate. Through this Rune's power, no word can be spoken in safety. The bearer can hear anything he or she wants, giving them an almost prophetic awareness of events happened. However, like Cassandra, people don't listen to the warnings of the bearer. Ultimately, these warnings go ignored because of this "deafness" and preventable tragedies happen anyways.


	15. Secession 1: The Twenty Ninja

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. From here on there will be characters and ideas from Basilisk by Masaki Segawa.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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Secession War, part 1: The Twenty Ninja 

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In outer space near yet another version of Earth, an iridescent portal opened. From it came a squad of Juraian tree ships, one of which belonged to Yosho Jurai, prince of the Juraian Empire, and leader of the Secessionist faction. He had pertinent reasons for coming to such a remote, backwater location. On this planet was something he wanted, a True Rune. The crew scanned the planet for this Rune and to accumulate information on the world and the dangers present.

"My prince, there is an unusual energy signature in the area of south central Japan," informed a sensors officer.

"Good, bring the ship to the surface. Mobilize the teams for a scouting mission," ordered Yosho.

The Secessionists opened a portal, flying their ship directly into it, right into the atmosphere without undergoing a traditional, but risky re-entry. The ship waited above a rolling green plain as scouting parties materialized on the surface. The leaders gestured to their men and split up in search of the Rune. The Juraians fanned out of the area, looking for anything that might house the Rune. So far, their search proved fruitless.

Eventually, the Juraians came upon a large Japanese shrine. The shrine was nearly the size of a palace, with several rooms for prayer and meditation. The building was made out of wood and had a shingled roof. Every once in a while, a young shrine maiden would come out and sweep the floors. During one of these cleanings, the Juraians watched her through the length of binoculars. When they determined that the area was safe, they surrounded and stormed the building like a SWAT team.

Within minutes, the Juraians held the priests and shrine maidens at gunpoint. "Get on the ground! Do it!" screamed a Juraian soldier. The priests and shrine maidens, terrified by this sudden assault, complied. "Put your hands over your head," ordered the same soldier.

While some of the soldiers detained the priests and shrine maidens, another group penetrated the innermost room. The door was locked, a problem quickly remedied by having one of the soldiers shooting off the lock. The soldiers swarmed into the room. When they found no enemies, they proceeded to secure it. This room reeked of smoky incense. In the back was a lone altar on which a scroll had been placed as an object of reveration. Flanking this altar were a pair of wooden mantles with ten funerary urns with identifying paintings of the deceased.

The soldier opened the scroll and saw several names crossed out by marks of blood. "Iga clan... Oboro, Tenzen, Akeginu, Koshiro..." As that soldier read out the names, another looked over at the paintings and the names written on them. The left mantle had the same names as the ones in the scroll.

"Look at the back," said another soldier.

The soldier flipped the scroll over and saw an emblem resembling a bar in which one half was black, changing into gold going rightward. From the way the emblem was set up, it looked like a bar of lead being transmuted into gold. The emblem gave off an otherworldy sensation which made the soldiers' skin tingle. Before the soldier could contemplate this situation, Yosho immediately entered the room and claimed the scroll for himself. He flipped the scroll and looked at its back.

He smiled. "Yes, this is the Change Rune."

He used the Circle Rune to encase the Change Rune in a bubble of tangible white light. However, this act accidentally triggered the Change Rune! The Rune glowed with a dull greyish light and the room was suddenly filled with twenty new individuals. They were dressed as random feudal Japanese people ranging from a lord to a ninja. They were surprised to find themselves in this room along with the urns. The guards immediately trained guns on them.

One of the twenty, a shy, innocent Japanese girl in a kimono looked behind and saw a painting of herself in front of an urn. "That's me!"

"This one's me! What's the meaning of this?" asked a man clad like a ninja, looking at the picture named "Koshiro."

From looking at the paintings of the deceased and the faces of the newcomers Yosho realized what had happened. "I see. You must be the ninja of the Iga and Koga clans. I do not know how you died, but it seems the power of the Rune has restored your lives."

"Yes, I remember," said the man closest to the shy girl. "Oboro, you stabbed yourself and fell into the river..."

"I remember too, Gennosuke, but now we're alive again," said Oboro.

"Yes, and so are the other members of our clans," said Gennosuke.

Oboro looked around and saw some familiar faces, some of which were not as pleasant to look at. She also noticed the armed Juraians training weapons against them. "You must confused, so I will set the record straight. I am Prince Yosho of the Juraian Secessionist movement. You are a creation of the Change Rune and since I now own it, you must swear fealty to me," stated Yosho.

"Who are you to demand fealty of us?" asked the ninja known as Tenzen, a schemer of a character. "You have no..."

Yosho casually raised his hand, from which a beam of energy streamed out. This beam hit Tenzen and hurled him into the wall behind. The wall cracked from such an immense impact, leaving Tenzen crumpled on the ground. "Lord Tenzen!" cried Koshiro, seeing his master demolished with such utter ease.

The ninja reached for weapons, prompting the soldiers to ready their weapons with a click. "Enough!" declared Yosho. "The rest of you will suffer the same fate as him if you do not comply. Do I make myself clear?"

The kunoichi in red, Akeginu, helped her master up to his feet. The face of a demonic creature appeared on the surface of Tenzen's skin. This fanged beast was formed of Tenzen's skin, as though inhabiting his body. This creature started to consume his wounds, causing them to rapidly repair and heal. Within moments, Tenzen's body had been restored, but the pain had yet to subside. He was still weak, needing Akeginu's help to even stand.

The twenty seeing such awesome power displayed, knew their opponent was beyond even their combined power. In fact, they were lucky it was Tenzen of all who took such a devastating blast. If they tried to go up against Yosho, even with their strength combined, he could demolish them easily. One by one, they kneeled before Yosho, even the once defiant Tenzen. None of them dared to defy their new master, for to do so would guarantee their deaths once again.

* * *

Tory Avalon, the brother of Sakura, approached the tent where the archaeologists worked on items excavated from the ruins. At the back of the tent, Aiden was polishing a vase which had been dug out of the dirt in one of the homes of Crystal Valley. The vase was in surprisingly good shape despite its age, which was likely numbered in millenia. The vase depicted women carrying similar vases across the town while men were repairing homes and buildings around the city. It was a good picture of what day to day life would have been like in Crystal Valley.

Clow Reed finished typing in a translation and addressed Tory. "Hello Tory, you're just in time. I've just detected the Change Rune over in Edo, but there's a problem. Our Juraian allies have spotted Juraian ships orbiting the planet."

"So they got to it first. Whose ships are those?" asked Tory.

"Yosho's," replied Clow Reed. "In fact, we have confirmed one of those ships was his personal ship. He is there to personally lay claim to the Rune. You will be taking some of Tenchi's friends for this mission. Take Gohan as well and head over there as soon as possible."

"Of course," replied Tory.

The Cardcaptor made his way to Tenchi's abode, which had been refurbished from one of the vacant houses of Crystal Valley. In the meantime, Tenchi was busy practicing his swordsmanship outside in the backyard. His shirt was off and his body was drenched in sweat. He focused his breathing as he repeated his drills over and over, performing overhead slashes with a wooden training sword. He paused and took several more deep breaths to focus his mind.

Ryoko approached and watched him hidden behind the branches and leaves of a tree. She admired how tense and well toned his muscles were from such diligent workouts. When Tenchi paused to take a break, she teleported behind Tenchi and took him in an embrace. "Hi Tenchi!" she said into his ear flirtatiously.

"Uh, hi Ryoko," he replied.

"Mmm... So manly..." remarked Ryoko as she held on. "You're so sweaty. You must be working hard."

"Yeah, I have to be in peak shape to fight Yosho and Azusa," he said.

"You know, it must be tiring to train so hard. Since Aeka won't be around for a few hours, why don't I help you relax and take a load off," said Ryoko. She started grope Tenchi seductively. She lowered her hands down his body and reached his crotch and started fondle his "special parts" to indicate exactly how she would do so.

Tenchi was shocked and shuddered from such a bold move. "Ryoko!" he blurted.

"You don't have to be ashamed. It's just the two of us. No one will bother us..."

"Tenchi, are you there?" called Tory from the front door.

"Lousy timing, Tory!" cursed Ryoko mentally.

Tenchi entered the house and opened the front door. "Hi, is there something you need?"

"Hi Tenchi, Master Reed just found another Rune, but Yosho is already there to take it. We're going to steal it from him," said Tory.

"Sure, is Aeka coming?" asked Tenchi.

"Yep, she'll be coming too," said Tory.

* * *

At the world of Edo, the ships of the Empress Faction and the Runecaptors appeared in the solar system. As soon as the Runecaptors entered the solar system, the Juraians detected them and moved to intercept. The Juraians opened the fight by firing energy beams and were reciprocated by the Runecaptor ships. Beams of energy sailed back and forth through the endless void like streaks of light. Explosions occasionally burst forth from ships on each side as they took hits from the other.

The Nirvash weaved through enemy fire, using Washu's modifications to advantage. It snuck through and came dangerously close for the enemy's liking. It pelted the ship with a flurry of beams which caused the Secessionist ship to shudder. The captain ordered the Light Hawk Wings deployed, which bought time to recover. Despite its attacks being blunted, the Nirvash pounded the ship, hoping to chip away at those shields.

However, it was ineffective. "This one is going to be tough. If it's shielded like that, we can't get through," said Renton.

"Captain, we need some support," said Eureka to her ship, the Gekko.

"Roger, we are directing our squad's Light Hawk Wings to assist," replied Talho.

A group of Empress Faction ships directed their Light Hawk Wings on the Nirvash's target. Their wings extended and collided with the enemy's, causing several sparks of light to form. The entire event put a hole into enemy's defence, which the Nirvash used to slip through. The Nirvash flew circles around the enemy, pelting it with beam after beam. The enemy became wracked by internal explosions. When the ship was about to fall, the Nirvash fired one final beam and fled, letting it explode in its wake.

On the surface, a glowing white portal opened in a bamboo forest. Tory's group stepped out and examined their surroundings. "The Rune is very close. I can feel it. It should be to the north," informed Tory.

"Lead the way," said Gohan.

"Yes, I want to see my brother," said Aeka. "If he won't listen this time, we'll capture him."

The group approached the edge of the bamboo forest and could see a Shinto temple on the plain just up ahead. There were several Juraians already there, either milling about or patrolling the area. "Yosho and Rune must be in that temple," said Ed, spying on the area through cracks in the trees.

"How are we going to do this?" asked Al. "There's a lot of them."

"Easy, we use a diversion," said Tory. "I'll take Tenchi, Aeka, and Ryoko to go for the temple. The rest of you, create a distraction so we can get in safely."

"Okay," said Ed. "Just make sure you get that Rune and the prince safely."

Tory's team snuck off to another part of the forest to prepare their move. Gohan and the Elric brothers went in another, directly towards the largest concentration of soldiers. Al started off by alchemically pulling out the ground from under the guards. They humorously tumbled down into the hole and over each other as they fell into the tiger pit, which Al then capped with a grating. Gohan suddenly appeared behind an unwary guard and popped him in the back of the head. The man went hurtling forward, landing face first sprawled on the ground.

When other guards noticed, he blasted each one with a small bolt of ki. He zipped to another and hurled him high into the sky. The guard landed on top of another, flattening that man and taking both. As guards rushed to stop Gohan and the Elric brothers, Aeka and Tory's team spied on the temple. Yosho walked out, flanked by a retinue of men and some unknown people in Japanese clothing. Some of the men were dressed like ninja while a few seemed like feudal lords. They were likely natives of this world who had been roped into serving Yosho.

Tory conjured the Maze Card, which hurled all of the Juraians into labyrinthine oblivion. Tenchi, Ryoko, and Aeka barred the path of the procession. "Brother, please stop this now!" demanded Aeka. "Give us the Runes so we can seal them away for good. If you continue, you're going to destroy the Juraian Empire."

"Ha!" scoffed Yosho. "The lawlessness of our Empire has become intolerable. Despite my father's rule, he has done nothing to stop the chaos and bring the people in line. I will correct the weakness and mistakes of that old fool. I will bring a new age of order for Jurai!"

"So you still won't stop this madness? I'm truly sorry, but it has come to this now. I will take the Runes by force," said Aeka.

Aeka conjured a log shield around Yosho. Her attack prompted the ninja to retaliate against the members of her team. Gennosuke focused the Dojutsu eyes upon Tenchi, expecting him to suddenly commit suicide by self-impalement. Since he lacked any ki to manipulate, the eyes had no effect. Tenchi continued towards Gennosuke and cut him down in a one stroke. Oboro caught him before he hit the ground. Although seriously wounded, Gennosuke would survive and recover in time.

Danjo, the elderly Koga lord, spit a poison-coated needle at Ryoko. She disappeared and repeared behind him, cutting him down with a single stroke of a beam blade. A hawk descended and harassed the demoness, but with a second stroke she cut it down as well. She hurled a bolt of energy at Ogen, the hawk's tamer, punching a fatal hole through in her chest. "She got Lady Ogen and Lord Danjo!" cried the beautiful kunoichi named Kagero.

"That boy wounded Lord Gennosuke as well," said the rotund Josuke.

"Be careful, these ones are mighty foes," said Tenzen. "Proceed with caution."

The ninja tensely gripped their weapons as they stared down Tenchi and Ryoko. The boy and his admirer put their backs to each other with weapons ready should the ninja decide to strike. In the meantime, Aeka kept the barrier focused squarely on Yosho. Tory held out a capsule in an attempt to extract it from Yosho's hand. The Rune, unwilling to be captured, held on with all the power it could muster. "No, you will not have my Rune!" said Yosho, who unleashed a burst of power, breaking down Aeka's barrier and the attempt to capture it.

Tory immediately summoned the Earthy Card to reshape the earth, forming a deep pit to trap Yosho. Yosho leapt out and activated the Circle Rune, causing the earth to cease its alteration. Tory tried to force the earth to open again, but found his magic being inhibited. Yosho quickly used this lapse to rush Tory. The Cardcaptor attempted to evade, but was caught on the left side of the stomach. "Tory!" cried Aeka, as he fell to one knee.

Before Yosho could finish him off, Aeka attempted to trap him in one of her barriers. Yosho backed off and put more distance between him and Aeka. He hurled a blast of energy at Aeka, knocking her to the ground. At that moment, Gohan intervened and kicked Yosho in the face. It caught him completely off guard and smashed him so far back that he crashed right through the wall of the temple. Gohan gathered energy for his Kamehameha, but suddenly found his ki being inhibited. Yosho arose from the rumble, his hand balled into a fist, showing the glowing Circle Rune.

"Now you are powerless," said Yosho. He unleashed a bolt of energy at Gohan, who couldn't move fast enough to avoid with his ki being inhibited. He blocked but the sheer force put him into the ground.

Suddenly, Tory sprang to life and conjured rock with the Earthy. It slammed Yosho in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Suddenly, the Juraian prince received a distress call from his underlings. "Sir, our forces are being overwhelmed. If we don't escape now, we'll be crushed!"

"You got lucky," said Yosho. "Next time, your broken bodies will lay at my feet. Everyone, time to retreat. We got what we came for."

One of the Secessionist ships appeared overhead to extract the ground forces. One by one, the ships teleported the Juraians to safety. Ed reshaped earth to trap a Juraian who vanished before he could follow up. The Juraian was quite lucky to have been pulled out in the nick of time. Only the Runecaptors remained, standing in the field just outside the temple. Their mission was a failure, but they left with new information about their enemy from this incident.

* * *

start here Back in Crystal Valley, doctors tended to Tory's wound. It was quite noticeable and bleeding, but the doctor had applied bandages to his abdomen to stem the bleeding. He would recover in due time. "Ouch," remarked Tory as Aeka helped him get off of the bed.

"Don't strain yourself," said Aeka. "My brother gave you a bad wound."

Aeka helped to prop Tory up as he reached for a crutch. The duo left the doctor's office and joined the others. "Are you okay?" asked Gohan.

"Yeah, doctor said I should be fine in a few days. Master Reed and the Cardcaptors will give me magical healing to help speed things along," said Tory. "Ed, did you experience any problems using alchemy at any time during our last battle?"

"Why do you ask?" asked Ed.

"I suddenly lost the ability to perform magic. It was right before Yosho cut me," said Tory.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, at one point, our alchemy stopped working," said Al. "We were fine later, but it caused us a lot of trouble."

"Did anyone else have any trouble?" asked Tory.

"I did. After I came in to help Aeka, I had Yosho on the ropes," said Gohan. "I tried a Kamehameha, but something made me unable to gather ki. He took a shot at me, but I couldn't focus ki to get away in time."

"No problems here," said Ryoko, which Tenchi also echoed.

"Like Al said, after a short time, everything was okay," said Gohan.

"I see, now that you've told me, I think I know what power Yosho's Rune has," said Tory. "I believe that he can shut down specific power types with it."

"You learned all that from fighting him just that once?" asked Winry.

"Yeah," replied Tory. "I'm certain that's the Rune's power. The energy blasts and sword stuff are probably things he originally had."

"If he had this power all along, why didn't he do the same to my powers or Lord Tenchi's or Ryoko's?" asked Aeka.

"Simple, it would have been a grave mistake," said Tory. "Yosho's powers are similar to yours. If he did that, he would have left himself a sitting duck for me and Gohan."

"I see what you're getting at," remarked Ed.

"Yeah, it appears he can only negate one of magic, ki, or psionics at a time," observed Tory. "However, for him to shut down psionics would be very risky."

"So, he can basically shut down magic or ki," said Winry.

"Yes, but now that I know this, this makes me wonder," said Tory.

** END OF CHAPTER**

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** SPOTLIGHT: Edo (Basilisk) **

Politics/Demographics:  
Edo is a world still within a Feudal Era like the one in Japan of the real Earth. Recently, the people of Edo had a succession dispute between two grandsons of Tokugawa. The twenty ninja of the Iga and Koga were forced to fight each other to decide who would be the next shogun. Ultimately, it was Takechiyo's faction, represented by the Iga, who won the right of succession.

Characters/VIPs:  
The major players are the twenty ninja who fell in battle to determine the next shogun. They are from the Iga and Koga clans, who absolutely loathe each other. The heads of the Iga and Koga clans are Oboro and Gennosuke respectively.

Powers:  
Edo has very limited technology, restricted to ironworking and pre-industrial technologies. Instead, the superhuman ki powers of the twenty ninja stand out. The Iga tend to use offensive ninjutsu which gives them the edge in direct combat. The Koga on the other hand, rely on techniques which use subterfuge to assassinate their targets. Iga specialties include Koshiro's crushing wind vortices and Tenzen's regenerative powers. Koga specialties include Gennosuke's hypnotic Dojutsu eyes.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Change Rune **  
Domain: Chaos, Change, Evolution  
Duality: Progress vs. Instability  
Appearance: Piece of lead becoming gold  
Powers: Transmutation, manipulating chaos, random effects

Description:  
This Rune represents the chaos and change that is inherent to the world. Change is needed to effect progression in the world, but can also lead to instability and upheavals. This Rune brings about changes in the world, from changing one thing to another (transmutation) to causing random effects through manipulating the forces of chaos. An ancient culture of the Harmonian planet, the Sindar, once possessed this Rune, which made them become a nomadic group.


	16. First Contact 1: Fury of the Elements

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Starting here, this story will include Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha by Seven Arcs.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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First Contact, part 1: Fury of the Elements 

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The power of the True Runes was great, a prize for anyone who desired. Although the Runecaptors, Secessionists, and Imperials knew about their existence, most other people didn't even know they existed. Now, a new group has suddenly discovered their existence. Like the three Juraian groups, they too would enter the competition to take runic power. Known as the Space-Time Administrative Bureau, or STAB, this group was an inter-dimensional security force for several member worlds. Among the most prominent member was the world of Midchilda, where the STAB had its headquarters.

Midchilda was a futuristic world of vast cities and high technology. Its capital Cranagan, was like any post industrial city, with asphalt paved roads with countless cars and trucks commuting down the streets. It had many tall skyscrapers and buildings, monuments to its inter-dimensional commerce, trade, and associated wealth. At the fringes of the city, a bustling star craft port received the arrival of a silvery ship as it slowly descended onto the planet.

In an abandoned area of the city, members of the STAB's Section 6 unit trained for their next excursion in live combat. A violet-haired Japanese teenager, Subaru, skated on pathways of blue light in the sky. She fired at pellet-shaped drones representing enemy attackers. After only a single hit, each drone exploded and vanished into nothingness. Her partner Teana, a brunette with pigtails, emerged from hiding and pelted another two with handgun fire.

A second pair of fighters trained in a different area of these training grounds. The first, Erio, a young boy with spiky reddish hair, fired a bolt of lightning from his spear. The electricity surged throughout the drone and melted it into a metal goo. His partner Caro, a young pink-haired girl, descended from the sky on the back of a white dragon. On her command, the dragon expelled a blast of flame. The intense heat melted the drones until only molten metal remained.

"Very good," said the team's brunette instructor, Nanoha. "I'm sure you're all tired, so let's call it a day."

As Section 6 trained, STAB generals gathered to discuss the situation back at base. "Jurai has finally broken out in civil war," briefed a blond officer. "They have split into three factions. The first are the Imperials, who are led by Azusa and control the home world, Jurai. The second are the Secessionists, are led by Prince Yosho, who returned from hiding to lead a revolt against his father. The last is the Empress Faction, led by the female royals."

The situation with the Juraians was of great concern to the STAB. Now that the various houses and royal families were fighting each other, order in the Juraian Empire had been lost. To win the civil war, the three factions would look towards taking territory in other worlds for supplies and reinforcement. Of the three, the Imperials were the most threatening and dangerous of the factions. It had the largest amount of Juraian support. They had already conquered Pucella and had instigated several military provocations within STAB territory, such as sending scout ships to spy on planets.

The Secessionists had less support from Juraians, but still more than the Empress faction. They had recently taken over Corallia and had started to construct bases there. Already, this group had been showing signs that they were not content with their conquest alone. They wanted to expand further, to claim other worlds in addition to the remainder of the Juraian Empire. They had not yet run afoul of the STAB, but since they were expanding, that would not last forever.

Ironically, the Empress Faction had more support from non-Juraian sources than it did from its home base. In fact, this faction was the only one which was actively supported from outside worlds. Most of this support was individual in nature, people who decided to fight for them of their own volition. Those with ties to larger organizations steered them into supporting the effort. Interestingly, this group had little desire to conquer other worlds. Nevertheless, they were a significant player that was not to be overlooked.

In fact, one major reason these three groups were fighting was the items known as "True Runes." A second officer, a gruff black-haired man, went up front to brief the STAB officers on what they were. "The True Runes are powerful items much like the Lost Logia of our member states. They represent powerful cosmic forces which govern the nature of the world and reality. The Empress Faction is especially focused on acquiring them and already control half of the known Runes. The other factions have one each, but there may be other unknown groups who have the remainder."

A third officer, a general with a greying black beard, came up to discuss the STAB's next move with regards to this intelligence. "In light of this information, the STAB assembly has ordered us to begin deploying assets to acquire Runes, if only to study them. In light of Imperial provocations on our border worlds, we may need the power of these Runes to check the Juraians. I will give Lt. Col. Yagami orders to put Section 6 on standby as of tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

The next day, Section 6 received the news from their commander, Nanoha. She briefed them on the nature of the True Runes. "So, they want us ready to secure any Runes that pop up?" asked Erio.

"Yes, that's pretty much it," replied Nanoha. "The brass is worried about this Juraian civil war. The Juraians have conquered some non-member planets. The Imperials, in particular, have been responsible for some incidents on member worlds. If they are using these Runes to gain power, the brass reason that we'd need our own for self-defence. So for today, they'll be no training, but we are on standby just in case."

After the standby order from STAB leadership, a week passed without incident. Then, disaster struck. A great tornado formed in the countryside beyond Cranagan's limits. The winds whipped about in a fierce circle forming a funnel cloud which pulled in and devoured everything within its path. Within the centre of this whirling storm was an emblem whose shape resembled the flat top of this tornado. It glowed with green light which still filtered through the dust and dirt spun by the winds.

Sensor operators at STAB stations picked up this unnatural anomaly. The raging tornado laid waste across the countryside, uprooting dirt and pebbles. It moved over a farm stead and ripped the building right from its foundation. Wood tore off from the building as the winds shredded it like a blender. Safely away, a group of sensor operators watched this destruction in horror. "Sir, the tornado is giving off an immense signature of magical energy," reported the female operator.

"Is this the work of a Lost Logion?" asked the woman's commanding officer.

"No, the energy from the anomaly is not the same. There are no entries in the database matching this signature. It is entirely new," replied the female operator.

The commander called his own superiors and reported this situation to them. The word spread among the ranks of the STAB until it reached Lt. Col. Hayate Yagami. She, in turn, informed her own members of her own team, Section 6. Nanoha assembled the team together and briefed them on the situation. "I hope you four weren't bored over the last week. We've got a big mission for you..."

Nanoha briefed them on the mysterious tornado. "The tornado is being caused by an unknown magical power source in its centre. We suspect it might be a True Rune. We have been issued a team of specialists to operate equipment designed to contain Lost Logia. I will be going on the mission, as will Fate. Be careful. This enemy is not like what we've encountered before."

Within minutes, the whole team were on board a military helicopter and were being shuttled to the tornado's location. As they approached, the team jumped off and got into battle formation. Unlike other battles, they weren't facing a human or robotic opponent. They were facing a literal force of nature. The tornado's glowing green core, the emblem, seemed almost alive and aware of its situation. The fierce winds intensified, as though it was attempting to attack Section 6.

The tornado fixated on Fate and pursued. The blonde girl attempted to backpedal through the air, but the tornado was fast and also dragged her towards it. "Urggh, the winds are too strong!" shouted the girl, Fate, over the winds.

"Don't worry!" shouted Nanoha in return. She fired a beam through the tornado base, hoping to draw its attention.

The beam did indeed divert its attention onto her. The ensuing explosion disrupted the winds momentarily, allowing Fate a moment of opportunity to get create space. She fired a blast of electricity, stunning the tornado momentarily. As the electricity surged through the tornado and over its surface, the accompanying capture team activated an imprisonment device. It resembled a small, metallic box which opened up to a set of probes which focused energy into a nexus. The tornado's core was drawn into the nexus, as though being sucked in like a vacuum.

Teana fired shots into the winds, hoping to disrupt the core's defences. Subaru supported her, unleashing a sonic blast which dissipated a great amount of wind. In retaliation, the core conjured creatures of pure wind to halt their attacks. Visible only because of captured dirt, these air elementals were difficult to spot. One blew Subaru onto the ground while another lashed out and knocked Teana's gun out of her hand. Caro, on dragon-back, directed her mount's fiery breath winds while Erio unleashed a blast of lightning.

The tornado stalled, having been stunned by this combined attack. Subaru and Teana regained their composure and focused fire with Caro and Erio. Their attacks abated the winds. At the very centre was the Rune itself, left bare for all to see. Weakened by the onslaught, the Rune stretched as the capturing device sucked it in. Closer and closer it went, until the Rune was trapped within the nexus of energy, unable to escape. Their mission was a success. They had secured the Rune for the STAB.

* * *

However, the presence of the Rune did not go undetected. In his room in Crystal Valley, Clow Reed felt the great power of that Rune radiating through time and space. He looked up from papers of translation work and closed his eyes. He traced the sensation to the capture of the Rune by the STAB. He got a brief image of the military men and Nanoha's group loading the Rune into a chopper. As quickly as he felt it, the vision was gone. However, another awoke in the same world, somewhere else in the wilderness.

After narrowing down the location, Clow Reed called for Sakura and Madison. "Good evening my students, how are you tonight?"

"I'm fine, Master Reed," replied Sakura.

"Same here," said Madison

"Good, I have just detected the awakening of two new Runes. Both are in the world Midchilda," informed.

Midchilda was a world which used magic, but had bent it such that it functioned like mundane, modern technology. In fact, Midchilda was actually much more advanced than the modern human world. It was a key member of a multi-world organization known as the Space Time Administrative Bureau. The STAB spanned multiple dimensions and solar systems, being both an inter-world governmental body and an alliance of various governments at the same time. Although moderately powerful, STAB was still a relative newcomer into the politics of the anime worlds.

The first Rune Reed had detected was the Wind Rune. This True Rune controlled the winds and represented creativity. However, he could no longer detect its signature. "Just before the Wind Rune's signature vanished, I received a vision of someone, possibly STAB members, having captured the Rune and transported it away," reported Reed.

"It looks like they want Runes too," remarked Sakura.

"It's possible or they could simply be curious about it," replied Reed. "In either case, we'd best be careful. Their activities will complicate matters now."

"What about the other Rune?" asked Madison.

The second Rune was the Lightning Rune, the Rune which governed energy and power. "You must hurry and get this Rune before the STAB or the Juraians do," said Reed.

"Yes Master Reed," said Sakura.

She and Madison left and fetched friends to help on this mission. They were the Digimon Tamers from DATS and the ninja squad from the Leaf Village. When they arrived, Reed opened a portal to Midchilda. When they passed through the glimmering door between worlds, the team found itself standing on a grassy plain. In the distance, a thick set of storm clouds hovered overhead. Several bolts of lightning arced from it to the ground.

"The Rune is somewhere in the clouds," informed Madison, who could feel the power radiating from the storm. It made her skin tingle.

"Let's go!" said Naruto, happy to finally get some action.

The group approached the storm front. Lightning arced much more rapidly as they closed in. The storm and the Rune within was quite aware of their approach and what they intended. The Digimon from DATS ascended to Champion level and fired at the clouds. Their shots dissipated some of the clouds, leaving holes which sealed up. A different section of the clouds parted, as though an eye was being opened. It revealed and emblem which resembled a lightning bolt surging with electricity. This was the true form of the Lightning Rune.

"This is going to be tough," remarked Shikamaru. "The Rune is really high up. There's no way we can reach it. You'll need to fly us up to it."

"Don't worry, I've got that covered," said Sakura.

Sakura summoned the Fly Card. It granted Shikamaru's team wings with which they could fly up to attack the Lightning Rune's storm cloud. "These things look weird," remarked Naruto as he looked behind at them.

The Lightning Rune sent a bolt down upon the team's heads. Madison immediately raised the Shield Card to block it. The electricity washed over the globe without causing them harm. As the electricity died down, the buzzing sensation of static remained in the air. Since their Champion forms weren't going to cut it, the Digimon advanced one more level to Ultimate and carried their partners up to the sky. As Sakura's team ascended, the Rune hurled lightning at them.

Rock Lee avoided one aimed at him, but could not retaliate due to being out of range. Another one went to Rise Greymon, who shield himself with his forearm. "Are you okay, bud?" asked Marcus.

"Don't worry boss, I'm tough. This won't stop me," said Rise Greymon.

The Lightning Rune intensified the attack, seeing that the enemy was getting too close. "Okay Kero, take it away," said Sakura.

"No problem," replied the familiar.

Kero held out the sealing capsule, which began to drag the Rune from its cloud. Like a black hole, it slowly sucked the Rune in. Unwilling to go quietly, the Rune aimed several lightning bolts at Kero. Sakura intervened and raised a barrier around him for defence. The bolts washed over the globe, putting extreme pressure on the Cardcaptor to maintain it. The ninja approached the cloud and started slashing at it with kunai. Parts of the cloud dispersed with each cut. The Rune redirected lightning strikes at them. Shikamaru quickly banked sideways to avoid one meant for him.

Hinata spotted another coming from behind through Byakugan. She descended, allowing it to pass by overhead. A bolt lashed at Naruto, shocking him painfully. The lightning coursed through his body, stunning him and causing him to lose altitude. As he fell, Mach Gaogamon caught him. "Thanks buddy, I owe you one!" said Naruto. "Now it's time for my special technique!"

Naruto performed the Shadow Clone Jutsu, creating a copy of himself. While he spun chakra, his clone moulded it into a sphere and vanished once this task was done. On his request, Mach Gaogamon reared back and hurled Naruto up to the Rune. Naruto plunged the Rasengan, whipping the clouds as a chef would eggs. The Rune was stunned and its clouds spun around in a circle, disrupted by the Rasengan. With the clouds whirling around, the Rune could not lash out with lightning.

"Yeah, that's it!" said Shikamaru. "Keep it up!"

Unable to retaliate, Kero's capsule sucked that Rune right in. He looked over his prize. The Lightning Rune glowed with the very power of creation. He could feel the immense power even through the capsule's walls. It made his skin tingle. "Yeah, we got it!"

The group descended to the ground to look at the Rune. Just moments later, several choppers appeared over the horizon. Some magical girls and one boy flew out to confront them. "Who are they?" asked Naruto.

"Be careful, I don't think they're friendly," said Hinata.

"They have the other Rune in that middle helicopter," informed Madison.

"They do?" asked Marcus.

"Yes, it's very faint, but I can feel the power coming from it," assured Madison.

"We have to get that Rune too. It's too dangerous to let them keep it," said Naruto.

"Who are you?" asked the leader, a girl in white robes. She appeared to be a magician.

Both groups were quite tense to be around each other. "We're Runecaptors," replied Sakura. "I'm Sakura Avalon. We're here to capture dangerous magical objects known as the True Runes. If it's possible, can you let us have the one you have?"

"I'm Nanoha, pleased to meet you, but that's not possible," replied Nanoha. "We're from the Space Time Administrative Bureau. Our orders are to capture Runes and bring them in for study. If anything, you are in violation of our territory. We'll have to ask you to hand over your Rune."

"Seems we've got quite a dilemma here," remarked Thomas. "We each have a Rune and we both want the one owned by the other side."

"Why do you want the Runes so badly?" asked Nanoha.

"We want to reseal them so nobody can misuse their power," said Sakura. "They're too dangerous."

"...And besides, why do YOU want them?" asked Naruto accusingly. "I don't think it's to lock them up like we are..."

"We want them to defend ourselves," said Nanoha. "There's a war going on and the people fighting it are using Runes. We need the Runes to protect ourselves. We need them more than you do."

"They're too dangerous. You don't know what you are dealing with!" warned Madison.

"That's right. You're crazy! One of those things destroyed three villages and nearly got my home!" said Naruto.

"I was there too. I saw many ninja die right before my eyes," said Hinata. "If you use the Rune, you risk the same happening to you!"

"Look, what you're doing is a big mistake," warned Marcus. "You don't want them."

"Looks like there's no way around it. We're going to have to fight," said Nanoha, resigned to this inevitability.

"Marcus, protect Kero!" said Sakura. "We're going for the helicopter!"

The two sides drew weapons and a shootout broke out. Sakura conjured a great tornado with the Windy Card. The whirling winds whipped up loose pebbles and dirt as it advanced unerringly on the STAB agents. Seeing the danger coming, Nanoha flew away and fired at Sakura. Sakura was caught in the blast, but survived due to having raised the Shield Card to blunt the attack. Nanoha fired again, but Sakura flew out of the way and up to meet her face to face.

Naruto summoned hundreds of Shadow Clones to his side. Subaru glanced around as they surrounded her. When the clones spotted an opening, one of the rushed into to punch her. She sensed the blow coming and blocked. Another came, but she skated away to create space. She travelled up a trail of blue light and wound back upon the pursuing clones, blasting each with a single shot. One slipped under her fire and kicked her up into the air. The clones piled up on each other and knocked her further and further into the sky. A clone popped up above her and punched her back to the ground.

On landing Subaru recovered from pure adrenaline. She reformed and skated along a new trail while firing shots into the mass of clones. Explosions burst amongst the clones as each vanished in a puff of smoke. The real Naruto fell out of this mess hurt from the onslaught. As he got up, Subaru closed in and punched him in the chin. Naruto tumbled into a mass of clones which broke his fall. Subaru blasted the rest of the clones, leaving only the real Naruto left on the ground. Suddenly, that Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving a log behind.

Yoshino and Lilamon broke through the melee in a beeline straight for the choppers. The chopper crews saw them and opened fire. Lilamon easily dodged and fired from her petal-like fingers. The pink bolts tore through one of the choppers and sent it crashing to the ground. The others closed ranks to protect the one carrying the Rune. They returned fire to keep her away. Lilamon banked away from this bout of concentrated fire and flew in loops to evade their line of sight.

Nanoha crashed to the ground, having been knocked down by a pillar of light. When she shook it off, she saw the helicopters coming under Lilamon's attack. "Capture team, retreat! That is an order!" said Nanoha. "You must not allow them to get the Rune."

"Affirmative," replied the chopper's pilot.

The Rune's chopper fled from the battleground. Lilamon attempted to follow, but the remaining choppers intercepted. They fired on her, forcing her to break. In doing so, the chopper with the Rune gained much distance over her. The choppers fired at her again and her frustration began to mount. She dodged again and in doing so, let the chopper gain so much distance that it was now impossible for her to make up the distance. Now, even Yoshino was getting frustrated. She hurled a mass of vines into one of the rotors. The vines jammed it and caused the chopper to lose altitude and hit the ground with a thud.

Caro's dragon, Fried, sprayed a blast of fire at Rise Greymon. The Digimon covered his face with his forearm, taking this searing heat with little harm due to an innate resistance to fire. He retaliated, his arm cannon propelling powerful bolts of energy. Fried banked away and avoided. In this time, Rise Greymon attempted to close the distance. Erio, also on dragon-back, realized his plan and returned fire. The Digimon covered himself and weathered the torrent of fire easily. Marcus leapt off and landed between Erio and Caro.

Erio attempted to stab him, but Marcus warded the spear. He tackled Erio onto his back which caused him to drop his spear. Marcus attempted to mount him, but Erio kicked him off. As Marcus stumbled backwards, he accidentally elbowed Caro in the back of the head. Dazed, she slumped forward, causing him to make a hard dip downward. Just as Marcus was about to get up, the sudden drop caused him to fall onto Caro.

The sudden brought Erio following him. Even as they went down, Erio continued to hurl punches. Marcus flipped him over and off of Fried's side. As Erio went off, he grabbed his foe's shirt and pulled Marcus down with him. Even as they fell, they continued to trade punches. Rise Greymon caught them in the nick of time. They continued their fight in the palm of the Digimon's hand. Marcus feinted and Erio attempted to block. Instead, Marcus scored for a low blow. Erio doubled over, allowing Marcus to score a quick right hook. Marcus lifted his stunned enemy overhead and tossed him off, but Fried saved him.

"The chopper got away!" cried Yoshino, seeing it vanish over the horizon.

"Forget about it. Let's leave!" said Sakura.

Thomas tossed a fragment of the Gate Rune onto the ground. "Okay, the Gate's open," he called. "Everybody in!" The fragment enlarged and opened a portal back to Crystal Valley into which everyone on the team retreated.

Back in the city, Thomas did a head count. "Eight, Nine, Ten... Good, everybody's here."

"We didn't get the Wind Rune, but it wasn't a total loss. At least we have the Lightning. We can always go back later and take it back," said Kero.

* * *

When Nanoha returned to STAB headquarters, she reported directly to her superior and friend, Hayate Yagami. "I see. We secured the Wind Rune just before you returned to base."

"The enemy was very strong. Once they knew they couldn't get the Wind Rune, they fled into a portal," reported Nanoha. "What is Subaru's condition?"

"Subaru's recovery is progressing nicely," replied Hayate. "She was lucky that she got her barrier up in time."

"What did she get hit with?" asked Nanoha.

"Whatever it was, it bored right into her like... like a buzz-saw," said Hayate. "After her barrier collapsed, it tossed Subaru around like a loose helicopter blade. The attacker called this move the 'rasingen' or something like that."

"These people we fought weren't a joke. Did you find out who they were?" asked Nanoha.

"We're still trying to confirm if what they said about their identity was true," said Hayate. "If they want Runes, I'm sure we'll meet up again."

After her briefing with Nanoha, Hayate deployed all her resources and contacts to confirm the identity of the enemy. The nuggets of information that slowly trickled in proved to be quite interesting. The enemy really was from the group known as the Runecaptors. They were working with the Empress Faction with the goal of resealing the Runes into their original vault. In fact, the Runecaptors were occupying the planet from which the Runes originated.

This information confirmed the earlier reports that the Empress Faction was being supported from foreign sources. Among them was the Leaf Village of the Ninja Nations, which had suffered severely from an attack by the Earth Rune. Obviously, this explained why Naruto was so adamant about not letting them have Runes. He had seen the destruction they could cause first hand. It was also motive for the Leaf Villages involvement with the Runes. Others came from member nations of the Digital Bloc, which had also come under attack by the Gate Rune.

Upon studying this information, Hayate realized that these people were only here to defend their homes. "Since we have begun to capture Runes, these people have every right to view us as a threat. With the knowledge that these people were acting in self-defence, I recommend that we open a dialogue with the Runecaptors," she suggested to the brass at the next meeting.

"Your request has been noted, but denied," said the highest ranking general, a bearded man with brown hair. "The Empress Faction has attacked our assets and this can not be ignored. We must have the Runes to maintain our peace and safety. You will continue the search for the Runes. If these Runecaptors interfere again, you are ordered to eliminate them. Dismissed."

Hayate was left with an unpleasant, bitter taste in her mouth after the events of that meeting. The brass was only going to escalate the situation further. That and with the danger the Runes themselves posed, this could get messy very quickly. Out of the three Juraian factions, it was clear that the Empress Faction was the most reasonable of the bunch. The STAB could easily gain their aid against the other two. Now, the STAB was going to squander this opportunity and make the Empress Faction truly hostile.

** END OF CHAPTER**

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** SPOTLIGHT: Midchilda(Nanoha) **

Politics/Demographics:  
The Space-Time Administrative Bureau is governing body of the world Midchilda and several allied worlds across dimensions. It has elements of being both a massive, inter-dimensional, interplanetary super state made up of various democratic nations similar to the Real World's European Union. It also has several protected ward worlds under its wing. As such, it represents many billions of people, both humanoid and not.

Characters/VIPs:  
The key players from Midchilda are Lt. Col. Hayate Yagami's Section 6 team, which specializes in handling Lost Logia, artifacts of great power. They include Nanoha, Erio, Caro, Teana, and Subaru. Others include Fate Testarossa and Yagami's servants, the Wolkenritter.

Powers:  
In Midchilda, magic has blended with technology in ways unheard of in most other worlds. Through it, they have developed space-faring ships which travel faster-than-light and can traverse dimensions. Regular humans can use magic for a variety of attacks, bindings, and defences, but lack the variety of other worlds' spell casters.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: True Lightning Rune **  
Domain: Electricity, Energy, Power  
Duality: Power vs. Retribution  
Appearance: Lightning Bolt  
Powers: Control of electricity, lightning, energy

Description:  
This powerful Rune represents the great energy that was used to initiate the beginning of the universe. As such, it also represents electricity, which is used in modern times to power all sorts of technological items. However, while electricity can be used as power, it can also be the most destructive force possible. It brings devastating retribution with bolts of lightning from the heavens.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: True Wind Rune **  
Domain: Wind, creativity  
Duality: Creativity vs. Capriciousness  
Appearance: Green tornado  
Powers: Control of wind

Description:  
This powerful Rune represents the great creativity inherent in the sentient races. It also represents the winds which carry such creativity into the minds of those who are willing to embrace it. However, it is one of the most capricious Runes of them all. It is the gentle breeze which can suddenly turn into a devastating tornado which wreaks havoc across the land.


	17. First Contact 2: Fires of Majina

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Starting now, this story will involve Tokyo Majin from AIC Spirits.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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First Contact, part 2: The Fires of Majina 

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Somewhere, in yet another version of Tokyo City, a horrible fire blazed on without restraint. This fire had started in the heart of the local mall and began spreading from its origins to the nearby shops. When the people noticed the fires, they started to panic. They nearly trampled over each other as they scrambled for the nearest exit, not wanting to be the next one consumed by the hungry, expanding flames. The Asumi mall's sprinkler system burst open, spraying water all over the interior; a futile act, for the fire was too powerful to be stopped so easily.

As though with a will of its own, the fire melted the openings of the sprinklers, essentially sealing them tight. By now, the people had evacuated the mall and firefighters were rushing to the scene. They unloaded hoses from their trucks and directed the spray of water at the flames. An endless volley of pressurized water streamed forth, yet still was not enough to quench the raging inferno. A ball of travelled from the fires and descended upon the firefighters.

"RUN!" cried one of the firefighters as he tossed the hose. The hose went spiralling out of control as the fireball hit the ground and exploded.

Somewhere safe from the blaze, a team of Japanese demon hunters watched this transpire. They were seated around a single television set within a shop filled with Japanese antiques and mystical knickknacks. The fire seemed unnatural. Whenever any firefighters tried to put it out, a fireball would be lobbed at them. This was highly unusual behaviour for a normal fire. This fire also had an amazing persistence and continued to burn even as firefighters returned to try fighting it in shifts. This bizarre behaviour puzzled the firefighting community. Once the news finished reporting, the proprietor, a long-haired Japanese man, shut off the TV set. This man, Hisui Kisaragi, decided to address his team mates. "I don't think this is a normal fire they're dealing with. They should have gotten the fire under control by now."

"Yeah, I mean, I never seen a fire try to attack firemen on purpose," chimed in a bespectacled girl named Kyoko "Anko" Tohno.

"Now that IS strange," said the biggest among them, a muscular, dark-skinned youth named Yuya Daigo.

"Do you think a majin caused this?" asked the meek Aoi Misato, a beautiful long-haired girl of high birth.

"What else could it be?" retorted Komaki Sakurai, a girl clad in Japanese archery gear.

"Well, we won't get anything done sitting here. We should take a look during the night," recommended Kyoichi, a laid-back, rebellious swordsman.

* * *

In outer space, as night fell over Japan, a long white star ship entered the solar system. It had a long and had a shaft-like shape and wings designed for making an atmospheric landing. Its bow had a large opening which functioned as a muzzle for a high-powered energy weapon. This ship was the Crusader and carried the members of STAB under Hayate's control. With them were new members known as the Wolkenritter. They were Hayate's personal friends and knights who protected the magical, gold-rimmed Book of Darkness, which Hayate used as her tool to perform magic.

"Our mission is to retrieve the Fire Rune. Since this world has not integrated with the other anime worlds, we must obey the Non-Integrated Protection Treaty," informed Hayate. "We must keep our presence as secret as possible and minimize contact with the inhabitants. The Rune is hidden in a place known as the Asumi Mall. We are going to land at the extraction point three kilometres north of the target with a stealth drop ship."

The team boarded their shuttle, a small craft much like a wide Learjet that lacked passenger windows. The only window was for the pilot's cockpit. The pilot hit some controls and the craft took off. Once safely away from the Crusader, the pilot activated a stealth system. Light distorted around the craft until it was an nearly invisible blur in the darkness of space. The craft slowly made its descent with anti-gravity, which brought their craft safely and quickly to the planet surface.

Shortly after the drop ship entered the atmosphere of Majina, a Juraian ship dropped out of hyperspace in the solar system. "A Juraian ship has entered the solar system!" announced a radar operator. "Its signature indicates it is from the Empress Faction."

"Go to red alert!" ordered the Crusader's captain.

The Juraian ship suddenly materialized a trio of massive, octahedral craft. Within each of these diamond-ships was one of the three Evangelion pilots, Shinji, Rei, and Asuka. "Oh yeah, I'm totally psyched. Let's try these new Evas out!" said Asuka to her squad members.

Indeed, Asuka was thrilled to be in the cockpit of a new Evangelion. These new Evas were clones of the Angel Ramiel, who had been destroyed by Shinji and Rei just before Asuka joined their team. It was essentially a large diamond which floated by way of anti-gravity. It defended itself with a devastating, high-powered particle beam. It was one of the earlier victories made by the team and its body could still seen outside of NERV's Geofront. Even before the events from the Omnipotence War, NERV was in the process of cloning the first Ramiel Unit.

At first, the Ramiel Units lacked funding. The UN and other organizations had sunk great amounts of resources into the Evas and didn't want to spend any more. After the Omnipotence War resulted in an attack on NERV, the UN changed its tune. With the new funding, work accelerated and two new units had been created with more on the way. The first three bore the monikers of R0, R1, and R2 similar to the numbering of the original Evas. Their role was to defend Evangelia from cosmic attacks and invasions where the originals couldn't.

Now, they were about to get their first taste of live combat. R1 locked onto the Crusader and fired the particle beam. It smashed into the Crusader's shield, causing it to flash into view. The Crusader fired back in retaliation, but even as R1 evaded, some of the shots impacted the AT Field. Despite the strength of such a defence, the field still weakened from such a powerful counter. "Shinji, Rei, keep'em distracted, I'll come from the side," commanded Asuka.

R0 and R1 fired on the Crusader, drawing the ship's fire to them. Asuka manoeuvred R2 around the firefight to the ship's unwatched, blind underside. She immediately extended a spiralling drill from her Eva's underside. As R2 closed in, the drill bore through the Crusader's shield, and eventually, hull. The metal twisted and screech as the drill pierced through. Crew men inside the Crusader fled as the metal shaft burst through the ground. The Crusader shuddered and the alarm sounded from the severe breach it had opened.

The Crusader poured all its fire upon R2. R2's AT Field weakened under this concentrated assault. Having no choice, Asuka pulled out. On the way out, she immediately let loose a particle beam in her wake. The beam tore through the Crusader melting its metal hull into a greyish goo. She fired another which burn straight through to the ship reactor core and melted it. The core exploded and let loose a billowing cloud of flame throughout the ship. The crew was incinerated and the Crusader was left a derelict wreck, forever to wander the reaches of outer space.

* * *

Somewhere on the surface of Majina's Earth, Hayate and Shamal, a Wolkenritter member, drove the STAB squad to the site of the Rune in a pair of vans. These vans were painted red, to identify them as firefighting vans. The van had stockpiles of gear used to fight fires ranging from axes to spare, full sealed suits with breathing devices. Each member of the field team was dressed as a firefighter, to disguise themselves as they went for the Rune.

As they sped down the road, Nanoha attempted to contact the Crusader. "Earthworm to Crusader, please respond," said Nanoha. Despite several attempts to contact them, there was no response. "I'm not getting a response."

"I have a bad feeling about this," remarked the blonde Fate, seated across from Nanoha.

"If we can't contact the Crusader, we must assume it has been destroyed," said Hayate. "We must be more cautious than before. It's likely the enemy is operating in the region now."

Hayate and Shamal stopped the van at a relatively unoccupied area near the mall. The Asumi Mall still burned, yet firefighters continued to battle the blaze. Despite direct attacks on their persons, the legit firefighters ceaselessly toiled around the clock to keep the blaze confined to the mall at the very least. A fireball descended on a firefighter. The man crumpled to the ground in flames. Other firefighters hosed him down while paramedics rushed to apply first aid.

The STAB stopped the van and stormed the mall. Being disguised as firefighters, their dash towards the mall aroused no suspicion from the locals. The Asumi Mall's interior was vast. There were storefronts across the aisle, all of which were lit by smaller fires. The walls were charred black and the ground was soiled by bits of charcoal. Even with so much damage, the fire continued to burn. By now, the fire would have died from lack of things to burn, yet still it raged on.

At the very heart of the mall, at an information kiosk, Erio noticed something out in the corner of his eye. It came from a fire which burned that very kiosk. He swore he saw something and stopped to look more carefully. That was when he noticed a "shape" within it. It appeared to be a second flame inside the main fire. This flame was different, being a deep red rather than the orange-red colour of normal fire. After scrutinizing this strange phenomenon, he knew his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"Hey, come here, I think I found it!" cried Erio.

When the rest of the team converged on the location, Erio directed them to squint into the fire to see what was hiding within it. After careful study, they could see the Fire Rune just as he could. Knowing that it had been discovered, the Fire Rune lashed out with a blast of fire. Erio instinctively raised a barrier to ward this attack. Subaru quickly set up a capsule-like capturing device which caught the Rune and dragged it in. As soon as the Rune had been captured, the flames started to die down. Since its power was the only thing sustaining the flames, the firefighters started to make inroads.

"Over here!" cried someone from behind.

Vita turned to see who it was. That person was Hisui of Tokyo Majin. "Oh great!" remarked Vita. "Natives..."

Hisui's team quickly converged on the Fire Rune's site and confronted the STAB team. "Who are you guys?" asked Kyoichi.

"You don't need to know," said Signum. "We are leaving."

"Like hell you are!" said Kyoichi. "I saw you do something to the fire at that kiosk."

"What were you doing?" demanded Tatsuma, Tokyo Majin's martial artist. "Were you responsible for this fire?"

"No," replied Signum.

"You look very suspicious to me. I suggest you talk, before we make you," said Kyoichi.

He readied his sword, as did the rest of Tokyo Majin with their weapons. The STAB team did the same, forming two heavily armed, mutually hostile camps. "What are we going to do?" asked Caro. "If we fight them, people are going to see what we are."

"Not quite," said Fate. "I don't think they are normal people. I can detect great power from them. I'm certain they have special powers. The NIP Treaty doesn't apply to them. We can fight without violating it."

"Yeah, but the treaty does apply to the firefighters and other people outside. If we fight them, they'll notice," said Nanoha.

"We don't have much of a choice," said Signum. "They aren't going to let us go."

"Talk, or we'll attack," threatened Kyoichi.

"No," replied Erio. "Looks like the only way out for us is through them."

Just before the whole situation descended into an all out brawl, another factor came in to complicate matters. "Over here!" cried a female voice.

Sakura and the rest of the Runecaptors converged on the location from behind. "Oh great, now they're here too," said Teana.

"We know you have the Fire Rune. Hand it over!" demanded Yoshino.

"Who are those guys?" asked Komaki.

"Beats me," replied Kyoichi.

"This is a disaster," remarked Vita. "First natives, now Runecaptors."

"We have no choice, we have to fight our way out!" said Nanoha.

The STAB team initiated the battle, splitting up to open a path through the other two teams. Signum and Kyoichi crossed blades, each pushing down on the other to break through their guard. Kyoichi scored a breakthrough and deflected his opponent's blade. He brought his wooden blade across in a severing arc, but Signum leaned away moments before it could hit her. Kyoichi came in with another slash, which Signum parried. The locked weapons, attempting to overpower each other once again.

Vita charged at Naruto and smashed her hammer downward. Naruto quickly dove away and fired off hand signs to clones himself. The clones converged on Vita, who checked them with the shaft. She clubbed another clone in the head, causing it to go poof like its predecessors. Naruto came in from behind with rasengan, but Vita quickly caught on. Remembering her briefing, she quickly sidestepped and swung wide into Naruto's back. The ninja went flying to the remains of a clothing boutique.

Yuya ducked under a wide swing from Fate. He quickly closed the distance and locked her arms and body, crushing her through sheer brute strength. Unable to resist, Fate gasped in agony. Yuya turned sideways and slammed her through the kiosk into the ground. As she got up in a daze, Yuya held on and wound around to her back. Despite Fate's attempts to elbow her way to freedom, Yuya lifted her overhead and down she came into a devastating suplex.

"Retreat, there are too many of them!" ordered Nanoha, who quickly retrieved the dazed Fate. "Hayate, give us some cover fire!"

"But..." began Hayate.

The STAB remembers moved to the nearest exit with the captured Rune and the dazed Fate in tow. "Do it! They'll get the Rune at this rate!" said Nanoha.

The Runecaptors and Tokyo Majin followed. Before they could reach the door, several blasts of energy rained down from the heavens. The blasts separated the STAB squad from their pursuers. The squad quickly boarded their fire vans and sped away to the extraction point while the violet pillars of energy kept their pursuers at bay. Thomas tried to leave the mall, but one of the beams struck near his location and spooked him. He quickly backed off.

"Back to the mall!" cried Thomas, keeping distance from the beams.

The Runecaptors and Tokyo Majin fled to the safety of the mall to wait out the storm. "Just who are you guys?" asked Kyoichi.

"We want to stop those other people from making a big mistake," said Kero, watching the beams descend, one after the other.

Yoshino tried another exit, but that was being suppressed by the beams. "That one's no good either."

"They're not going to let us out until they're long gone," said Kero. "We'll have to teleport out."

"What do you mean by 'a terrible mistake?'" asked Aoi.

"The thing creating the fire is called the Fire Rune," informed Sakura. "If it gets out of control, it will cause more damage than this mall. It might look for someone to possess."

"What do they want with it?" asked Hisui.

"They want its power," said Sakura. "They're fighting a war. They only want that power to protect themselves."

"Then why are you trying to stop them?" asked Hisui.

"It's too dangerous," replied Sakura. "We want to lock it up so it can't hurt anyone. Everyone, come close to me. I'll get us out."

Everybody complied with Sakura's request. A shimmering, circular gateway opened beneath their feet. A few seconds later, everyone appeared at a roof overlooking the Asumi Mall. Nearby, a bespectacled Japanese girl was taking a picture of the fire. "Anko? Is that you?" asked Aoi.

Aoi had startled the girl. She turned around to find the speaker and perked up once she realized who she was. "Aoi... and the others... You're safe! Who are these people?"

Thomas decided to comment. "If she's here, we can't say anything. We aren't allowed to by law because of the NIP Treaty," Thomas warned his team.

"NIP Treaty?" asked Anko.

"Non-Integrated Protection Treaty," said Thomas directly and to the point. "I won't say more."

Tatsuma pondered this strange reaction. Once he realized how Anko was the only one didn't have power from the Dragon Veins, he put two and two together. "It should be okay. She's one of us. She has seen us use the power of the Dragon Veins."

"I see. I guess it's okay then," admitted Thomas upon hearing Tasuma's assurance.

"What is this NIP Treaty and who are you?" asked Anko again.

"Do you watch any sci-fi TV shows? You know how the space travellers have laws against interacting with low-tech aliens? The NIP Treaty is that kind of like that," informed Thomas, trying to draw a parallel between television and reality.

"Are you telling me that you're from outer space?" asked Anko.

"That would explain that strange feeling I got from them, like they were out of place," remarked Aoi.

"Well, I guess you can consider us aliens, but that's not quite accurate. To be more precise, we are dimensional travellers," said Thomas, who then proceeded to tell Anko about who he and the other Runecaptors were.

"Cool, I'm the first person to meet a real live alien! Wow, can I get an interview for the school paper?" asked Anko.

"So you guys had seen first hand how dangerous this Rune can be?" remarked Komaki, after hearing how the Earth Rune had nearly destroyed the Leaf Village.

"Oh yeah, believe it," said Naruto.

"We were lucky. Something like that could've happened again," said Madison. "That's why we need to stop to get the Rune back as soon as possible. That's why they're making a big mistake."

"Yeah, we need to go," said Thomas. "We can't give you a full interview, but one day, your world will join others like mine. Before that can happen, everyone must accept that people like your friends exist in your world. It might be shocking for them to learn these things, but you and your friends can make the transition easier."

"I understand, thanks Thomas," said Anko. She then got an impish grin. "Looks like I have a big scoop to break that scoop after all!"

** END OF CHAPTER**

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** SPOTLIGHT: Tokyo Majin (Majina)**

Politics/Demographics:  
Majina is a world much like the Real World, with a multitude of governments from dictatorships to democracies. In addition to humans, there are also demons and vampires who prowl the night. Demon hunters defend the city streets during the night from these monsters.

Characters/VIPs:  
The Runecaptors met Tokyo Majin, an important team of demon hunters for Tokyo. They include Tatsuma Hiyuu, Kyoichi Horaiji, Aoi Misato, Komaki Sakurai, Yuya Daigo, and Hisui Kisaragi. They have a number of allies including Kyoko "Anko" Tohno.

Powers:  
The power of the Dragon Veins is a version of ki utilized by the natives of Majina. They are much like ley lines, with the power being more external than the normally internalized ki. Those who can tap the Dragon Veins receive infusions of ki which fuel superhuman resilience, speed, and supernatural attacks. Otherwise, Majina is comparable to modern Japan in technological and scientific advancement.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Fire Rune **  
Domain: Fire, courage, passion  
Duality: Courage versus Doubtlessness  
Appearance: A red flame  
Powers: Control fire, conjure fire

Description:  
This powerful Rune imbues its bearer with unbreakable courage and controls the destructive power of fire. Those who receive the gifts of Fire learn that playing with it means someone or something will be burned, even if it's the bearer him or herself. As such, this Rune can cause immense destruction when used by those who are more "courageous" than wise.


	18. Druggies 2: The Mole

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Starting here, this story will include One Piece by Eiichir? Oda.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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7 Fold Druggies, part 2: The Mole 

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Aeka, Iroh, and Clow Reed gathered once again at the heart of the Harmonian Royal Palace. Aeka's stepmother, Empress Funaho of the Jurai and head of its intelligence, had discovered a juicy new piece of information. The three had suspected that a mole was hiding among the people who worked for them. The mole's activities were so dangerous that it caused the Runecaptors and Empress Faction a severe defeat at Pucella. Now, the Runecaptors had to close ranks and rout out the mole before he or she could cause more harm.

"It's nice to see you all in good health," said Funaho on the teleconferencing screen.

"I'm glad to see you're okay, Aunt Funaho," addressed Aeka. "What is this big news you have found?"

"It concerns that mole we've been looking for," began Funaho. Her words piqued their interest. "I have discovered that the mole works for Yuber."

"Yuber? You mean the drug lord from Cyberia?" asked Aeka.

"Yes, the same one," said Funaho. "We heard his name after recording a meeting between one of his liaisons and an agent of Azusa."

"Wait, didn't Section 9 have problems with this drug cartel?" asked Iroh.

"Yes," replied Reed. "Two of my students had rescued them from a drug bust gone awry."

"Don't forget that the Cyberian investigation had been suspected of being compromised. They believe that Yuber's moles had infiltrated the police," said Funaho.

"...And now, our group has been compromised too," concluded Aeka. "How is that possible? The Cyberian police aren't allowed access to our secret information. The only people who people who did was..."

"Section 9," finished Clow Reed. "Which means that when we invited them to join, we brought the mole into our ranks."

"Yes, but these officers have cybernetic brains. It's possible that their cyberbrains had been infected with a trojan that is leaking information to Yuber. Of course, I still wouldn't rule the possibility that one or more of them might be moles for Yuber and Azusa," informed Funaho.

"There's only one way to be certain, we must have Washu inspect their cyberbrains," said Aeka.

* * *

Aeka immediately sent out an order to Section 9 to submit to an investigation by Washu. One by one, the galaxy's greatest genius scanned the Section 9 members. The first was Major Kusanagi. The Major reclined on a bed and waited patiently as Washu inserted probes into her head. The devices scanned her mind for any anomalies or traces of tampering. It then dumped the memory of the agents, all the logs and records taken by her cyberbrain, which Washu perused over on her screen.

In her cursory first glace, she was unable to see anything wrong immediately. After dismissing the Section 9 members, she began to analyze the logs more deeply, to find that one inconsistency which would blow the case wide open. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. The amount of information in each memory dump was enormous and most of it was irrelevant to the investigation. Compounding the difficulty was that Section 9 agents were experts in information warfare. They were very good at deception and concealing information.

Ultimately, the mole could not hide his crimes from Washu. After intense scrutiny, she noticed an odd inconsistency in the logs. In a cached older log created just a day ago, she noticed an entry that showed Batou had sent a message to an unknown computer at around 1:13pm. This entry was not present in the current copy of the log today. Washu found this highly unusual. When she contacted the computer, its security programs blocked her.

After hacking through this security, she discovered that the computer was in the Cyberian Bahamas. She eventually found a dossier labelled "Pucella Briefing." After analyzing it, she realized that it contained detailed plans about the Runecaptor's failed defence of Pucella. There were pictures of ship positions, load outs, and crew to Empress Faction information on Imperial movements. Washu had found a veritable gold mine of secret information. After checking the logs, she realized that Batou had been sending information to this computer on a consistent basis.

According to the logs, this computer was in turn, transmitting information to a third computer. It was acting as a proxy server for the third computer. Washu hacked this third computer as well, to learn who was taking Runecaptor information. After recording information for reference, Washu showed it to Funaho. The empress cross-referenced this information and found something startling. "Washu, do you remember that information you showed me?"

"Yes, what did you find?" asked Washu.

"The third computer you mentioned is registered to one of Azusa's spies. Now that we have this information, we know who our mole is," informed Funaho.

"Yes, I'll show this to Aeka. She'll want to know," assured Washu, who did as she promised immediately. Aeka perused the report and explained how it proved Batou's complicity. "He was trying to change the logs to hide it. You can see the entries highlighted there."

"I see, thank you Washu."

"You're welcome," replied the genius. "...But hold on, there's more."

Washu talked Aeka through the rest of her procedure and other evidence of Batou's activities. "I see, thanks Washu, I'll take care of it now," assured Aeka.

Aeka immediately met with Iroh and Clow Reed and informed them of this new development. She immediately ordered the arrest of Batou under suspicion of espionage. Several Juraian soldiers waited outside his home as an entry team kicked down the door to his room. They immediately surrounded him with guns trained on him constantly. "What the hell is going on?" he asked irately.

"Batou, you are under arrest for the charge of espionage," announced the soldier.

"What? You've got the wrong guy!" he retorted. "I'm not a spy!"

"Mr. Batou, espionage and treason are capital offences. Do not resist or it may be held against you in a court of law," said the soldier as he placed handcuffs on Batou's arms.

The soldiers led Batou outside to where a transport van was waiting. Several people were gathered around the police line, curious about this event. "This is ridiculous!" said Batou. "I'm innocent! I'm not a spy!"

Kusanagi and other Section 9 members, kept out by Juraian police, were arguing with them about Batou's arrest. "Let him go, he's not a spy!" said Kusanagi.

"Yeah, this all one big mistake. We've known him for years. There's no way he could be the spy!" said Togusa.

The military police locked Batou in the transport car, which sped off to its headquarters. The MPs led Batou to a single room where he was grilled for hours on end. The stress from his arrest and the anger from being falsely accused wore on Batou. He was furious and ready to lash out at a moment's notice. Still, the interrogation pressed on to learn every single detail of Batou's activities. In the meantime, Aramaki, irate that his man was incarcerated, stormed in to demand an explanation from Iroh.

"What's the meaning of this?" asked Aramaki. "Why is one of my men in prison? Why wasn't I told of this until now?"

"We found Batou leaking top-secret documents to Imperial agents," replied Iroh succinctly.

"He is not a spy. This has to be a mistake!" said Aramaki.

"There is no mistake, the evidence clearly points to Batou," replied Iroh. "Unless you can provide evidence to the contrary, we will have to detain him."

Aramaki sighed, unable to do anything. The news about Batou's arrest spread throughout the Runecaptors rapidly. Nobody was shocked more than Shaoran and Meilin, both of whom were acquainted with him. "Batou is the spy?" asked Shaoran.

"Yes, he had been secretly sending documents to the Juraians," said Clow Reed.

"I never thought it would be him. He's tough, but he's really nice on the inside. It's not like him," said Meilin.

"Yeah, but that friendly face was apparently just a front," said Reed. "Enough about that, I have a job for you two and the Soul Reapers."

* * *

In the Great Blue, a world of pirates and high sailing and adventure, a pirate ship traversed the great blue ocean. At the peak of its highest mast was the picture of a skull wearing a straw hat. Taking their name from that attire, a favourite of their leader, these pirates called themselves the "Straw Hat Pirates." Luffy, their cheery captain, wore the eponymous hat on his head. His first mate, Zolo, was more serious and was checking up on some ropes. He was a swordsman with green hair and a wiry body.

Their navigator, the lovely Nami, consulted a map and compass while Luffy steered the ship. Their marksman, a long-nosed man in a mask known as the great Sogeking, cleaned the cannons of their vessel. Below deck, the handsome chef, Sanji, toiled at the stove to prepare a gourmet meal in the kitchen. In a nearby infirmary, a small child-like reindeer named Chopper took inventory of the medicine on the ship. The shipwright, Franky, inspected the rudders to ensure they were functioning properly.

Back on deck, Robin, the dark-haired woman in the crow's nest, spotted some land ahead. "Land ho!" she cried.

"Yeah!" cheered Luffy.

"We haven't seen Vivi in quite a while. I wonder how she's doing," remarked Zolo.

"I'm sure she's fine. She'll be happy to see us. It should take two more days 'til we reach port in Alabaster. We'll make a quick pit stop over in Salt Town for rest and supplies first," reported Nami.

The Straw Hats docked at port in Salt Town, a small seaside village on an island just off the coast of Alabaster. It was a typical seaside town, independent of the nearby desert country, but an important stopover nonetheless. There were seagulls flying overhead, cawing away as they dove into the waters for fish. The air was filled the smell of salty water and of the fish being unloaded by returning fishermen. The crew split up to enjoy the sights of the town and ready the Thousand Sunny for their next voyage.

Sanji went straight for the market, where all of the food was being sold. The stalls were filled to the brim with all kinds of fish and seafood. Due to his life on the high seas, Sanji had developed a taste for seafood. It was a delicacy he specialized in. Robin had hit the book stores in search of books, joining Nami who wanted maps of the local area. As it was the navigator's dream to map Great Blue, every local map helped. There was only so much time and she could only be in one place at a time in an enormous world. As the Straw Hats went their separate ways, the day turned to night.

The girls exited the book store; Robin carrying piles of books and Nami with several rolled up maps of the local area. "Ahh!" screamed a girl.

The heard that scream and dropped everything to find out what was going on. As they followed the screaming, they travelled through alleyways into the rougher sections of town. They found the girl running down the street into an abandoned warehouse near the docks area. A sinister black creature was chasing her, one that had a head like a T-rex with horns. The creature had a sharp maw and was demonic in form. The demon cornered the girl at the back of the warehouse and snarled in satisfaction.

"Hey, pick on someone your own size!" cried Nami.

The demon turned around, revealing an emblem like a dot with seven arrows pointing in different directions. It snarled at the girls threateningly. Nami raised her Climatact, a weapon consisting of several blue sticks that could be rearranged into a staff. Robin crossed her arms and sprouted tertiary hands from her body. The creature snarled at them once again, before pouncing at them. The girls immediately dodged and got ready to begin their attack.

Nami hurled a ball of lightning. It hit the demon and sent it aback in convulsions. Robin created new hands along the ground which tripped the creature. Despite such a combination, the demon arose and renewed its attack. It clawed at Nami, who parried with the Climatact. The demon went on the offence with a fury that Nami could barely manage. "Robin help!" she called out, unable to get an opening to escape or counterattack.

The creature tried to lunge, but found its legs held in place by Robin's hands sprouting from the ground. Nami expelled a blast of wind, sending the demon flying through the warehouse wall. Four more demons, just like the first in appearance, rushed into the room, surrounding the girls. "This isn't good," remarked Robin.

At that moment, Luffy and Zolo entered the warehouse from different doors. "So this is where you were," remarked Zolo.

"We were worried about you!" said Luffy. "When you didn't come back, we went out to look for you."

"We'll talk later. Take care of these 'things' first," said Nami.

Luffy charged at the nearest demon, pummelling it with a flurry of elastically stretched punches. Zolo hurled himself at another, cutting it to ribbons with a flurry of sword strikes. Nami connected with a gust of wind, sending her opponent crashing out of a window. Robin held onto hers by the legs and created new arms to punch the demon in the face. After a swift beat-down, all of the demons were defeated. The Straw Hats looked over the bodies of their foes to ascertain just who or what they were.

"Phew, what were these things?" asked Nami, looking over the limp body of Zolo's fallen opponent.

"I have no idea, but I've heard rumours about creatures like this terrorizing the area during the night," said Zolo. "Looks like they were true after all. I also heard that Alabaster was having trouble with these things too."

"Then let's get to Alabaster!" said Luffy.

The Straw Hats set sail the next day and found themselves at the entrance to the royal palace just before noon. They were led in by Vivi's most trusted guards and brought to the throne room, where the peacock-haired girl was waiting. Vivi was as beautiful as ever, even more now that she was in loose-fitting, white royal robes and a crown. She hugged Luffy, glad to have seen him after such a long time since their travels together.

"It's great to see you, Luffy," said Vivi.

"Me too, we had so many adventures since you left!" said Luffy. "We've made new friends and went sailing the world with them."

Vivi looked over the Straw Hats, seeing some unfamiliar faces among them. "I'm not surprised," replied Vivi. "Even Miss All Sunday's with you."

"She's not a bad person, honest," informed Luffy.

"I trust your judgement, but I can't help but feel uncomfortable with her being here," said Vivi.

Robin decided not it would not be wise to comment on or object to Vivi's accusations. Zolo quickly changed the course of the conversation. "I heard rumours in Salt Town that there have been some monsters causing trouble in your country."

"Yes," replied Vivi.

She informed them about sightings of these monsters in various cities. The Straw Hats had eliminated the monsters in Salt Town, but they were only a small group. These monsters were much more numerous in Alabaster Kingdom. Vivi showed them to a map which displayed Alabaster's borders and various known sightings of these creatures. Nearly every city had been marked at least once with a few having had multiple sightings. In a few cases, these creatures had killed lone, isolated stragglers.

"We'll help you out, won't we guys?" asked Luffy of his crew.

"Yeah, no problem for a gorgeous girl like you," said Sanji.

"I know we haven't been on the best of terms but I'll do whatever I can," said Robin.

"Thank you everyone, I'm glad to have friends like you," admitted Vivi.

Vivi gave her friends a free stay in the palace as guests of the princess. That night, a commotion woke Zolo from his slumber. It sounded like yelling and swords clanging from elsewhere. Vivi burst into the room. "Zolo, we have to get everyone out of here! Those demons are attacking the Royal Palace!"

Zolo bolted out of the bed and grabbed his swords. He put one into his mouth and held the other two in a battle-ready stance. He and Vivi went to the rooms of the other Straw Hats and woke them up, having the most difficulty with Luffy of all. A demon burst into the room through the window. As it pounced for Vivi, Luffy woke up and punched it out of the air and into the roof, putting cracks into it. The demon peeled off and crashed to the floor with a thud.

"Nobody hurts my friends!" he stated upon jumping out of the bed.

A man resembling a judge approached the room. "Miss Vivi, we have to get out of here. The Royal Guard can't hold off the demons much longer!"

"Okay Igaram, lead everyone to the secret exit," said Vivi.

The judge-like man, Igaram, called Vivi's personal guards to retreat into King Cobra's royal bedroom. He tweaked a bust of the late queen, opening a secret door beside a bookshelf. Everyone quickly scrambled in while Igaram closed the door behind them. They went down winding halls between the walls, hearing the sound of demons and guards fighting from the other side. The group travelled to the end of the passage and emerged out of a stone wall in another part of the castle.

This room was filled with treasures accumulated by generations of Nefertari. As the group looked around, Robin found a stone with an emblem resembling a judge's gavel, but drawn in a sinister black colouring. Vivi noticed Robin looking over the emblem. "My men found it out in the desert during a patrol a few days ago," informed Vivi.

"That thing gives me the creeps," remarked Nami, who could literally feel sinister emanations coming from it. "The sooner we can get out of here, the better."

"I'm sorry about this," said Vivi. "I was hoping that we wouldn't have to be running for our lives like this."

"Don't worry about it," said Luffy. "It's just like old times."

"Yeah, you said it," said Vivi.

Suddenly, the secret door in the wall burst open! The demons emerged from the rubble. "Oh no! They've found us!" said Igaram.

The Straw Hats charged into battle to fight for their very lives. Robin, instead, backed away as a demon swiped at her. She conjured multiple hands, which sprouted from the ground and gripped the demon's leg. She sprouted more from the creature's very own body, pulling the creature's back so as to snap his spine. However, the creature was much, much stronger than any ordinary human. It resisted defiantly and would not be bent back.

It broke free of Robin's hands and charged at her. She dodged and blocked deadly lunges meant for her, barely avoiding in time. One grazed her across the cheek, opening a trail of crimson along the path. She backed off and was stopped by a wall. She was in trouble with nowhere left to go. The creature lunged, but Robin dropped down and slipped out. The creature accidentally struck the wall and in its zeal, hurt itself. As it wrung the pain from its hand, Robin found herself near the Rune.

It glowed with a dark, but welcoming light. It seemed to be calling to her, tempting her with its power and compelling her to use it. She was hesitant, fearful of what consequences would come from the use of such a dark power. She looked around and saw Luffy. He was down and one of the demons was on top of him, trying to claw at its prey. Luffy locked its hands with his own, trying to keep the monster from striking. It lunged to bite, but Luffy shifted his neck away just in time.

Zolo cut down three demons, but was blindsided by a forth and took a significant, bleeding wound as a result. Chopper, in his hulking humanoid form, crushed a demon with a hammer fist. Another hit him in the back, sending him face first into the floor. Igaram was grasping his leg, which had taken a severe slash from the demon's claw and was bleeding. All of her friends were surrounded or in trouble. Robin was quickly running out of options and so were her friends.

Seeing no other alternative, Robin gave in to the Rune's temptation. The dark power filled her body, mind, and soul as the Rune grafted onto the back of her left hand. She immediately unleashed that corrosive, corrupting power upon the demons. An eldritch darkness filled the treasury. When it came into contact with the demons, it started to corrode their bodies into nothingness. The demons roared it pain as their bodies were disintegrated by the voracious darkness.

Her friends were saved, but the Rune enacted a price for its services. Robin's vision suddenly blurred and nausea set in. She coughed up drops of blood. Unable to tolerate this any longer, Robin collapsed on the ground. Luffy raced to help her. "Robin!"

** END OF CHAPTER**

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** SPOTLIGHT: Great Blue (One Piece) **

Politics/Demographics:  
Great Blue is a world from the time of the Age of Exploration, but with several anachronistic elements to it. It was once ruled by a single World Government, which had collapsed after being invaded by Omnipotence during the war. Right now, there is some instability in the Great Blue, and each individual territory governs itself largely through regional monarchies.

Characters/VIPs:  
The Straw Hat pirates are a typical group from this world. Their group includes Captain Monkey D. Luffy, First Mate Zolo, Navigator Nami, Chef Sanji, and Gunner Sogeking among others.

Powers:  
Great Blue has psionics coming from the powers granted by eating the cursed Devil Fruits. They grant the eater a specific power, at the expense of paralysis while exposed to sea water. Great Blue also has some ki, mostly used by martial artists and weapons specialists. Its technology level is mostly pre-industrial, but some they do have some things to emulate modern conveniences like snails which act as rudimentary telephones.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Punishment Rune **  
Domain: Punishment, Retribution, Justice, Mercy, Karma  
Duality: Retribution vs. Forgiveness  
Appearance: Sinister black judge's gavel  
Powers: Reflects harm to its causer, life drain

Description:  
This cursed Rune represents punishment and karma, ultimately ensuring that everyone gets exactly what is coming to them. It also allows for mercy and forgiveness to enable the punished to reform and continue on. This Rune can reflect harm to those who cause it as well perform life-depleting attacks. It exists in a "punishment" form which saps the user's health until it is mastered and purified to its "mercy" form.


	19. Secession 2: The Mark of the Beast

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. Starting here, this story will include Chrono Crusade by Daisuke Moriyama.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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Secession War, part 2: The Mark of the Beast 

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In the world of Great Jerusalem, night had fallen over the city of New York. It was an American city, right from the times of the Roaring Twenties. The First World War was over and it was time to relax and celebrate. Prohibition was law, meaning that alcoholic drinks were banned, but still people still sought out the booze. In speakeasies across the city, the alcohol flowed freely as jazz music blared from bands. The patrons danced the night away while overs mingled and conversed.

However, in the city streets of the night, there lurked dangerous things that were best left alone. Demons crawled through the nooks and crannies in dark alleys between buildings. Being creatures of darkness, they shied away from the light. Several of these creatures, goat-headed humanoids or baphomets, approached a large wooded park at the edges of the city. Something in the park was drawing the demons to that location. When the demons gathered round, they looked upon an emblem which glowed with an earthen brown light.

It gave off a sensation of ferocity and fury, the very raw, untamed power of the wild. The emblem resembled a wolf's head and was attached to the skull of a dead bear. The bear was long dead, its skull bleached white from the elements. The demons were drawn to this primal power, wanting it even as they feared it. One of the braver ones reach out and touched it. The emblem, the ferocious Beast Rune, glowed brightly and affixed itself to the head of that baphomet.

Instantly, the demon felt a surge of untamed and ferocious power well up within him. A new strength ripped through his body, making his fur stand on end. Brimming with energy, the demon smiled with delight. The others could feel the raw power radiate from the brave one. "I am the boss now," stated that baphomet. "You do what I say or else!" Fearing to fight their new leader, the baphomets fell in line and obeyed.

After that event, the brave one began to consolidate his power. A great blood bath ensued within the hidden demon world as the brave one slaughtered all who dared to challenge him. Bodies began to turn up everywhere, to be discovered by humans. Some were dismembered, slashed up beyond recognized with limbs scattered all over the place. Blood splattered all over hidden allies from freshly created corpses. Police were baffled by these grisly murders of inhuman creatures and people were terrified.

At the site of the latest massacre, a group of nuns and religious followers investigated. A baphomet had been decapitated in the alley, its head ripped right off of its body through sheer strength. Blood had been splattered everywhere. "Whoa, what a mess!" remarked a blonde nun as she looked over the bodies. She was Rosette Christopher, an elite member of the Order of Magdalene, a group of exorcists linked to the Catholic Church. "They were torn limb from limb."

"Horrible!" remarked a young, violet-haired girl, Azmaria Hendrich.

"That's the ninth one this month. Who could've done this?" asked her demon partner, a violet-haired boy named Chrono.

"Rosette," addressed a noble, red-haired woman.

"Satella? When did you show up?" asked Chrono, upon hearing the woman's voice.

"I just got here. Is do you think Aion could be doing this?" asked Satella.

"I don't think so," admitted Chrono. "This isn't his style. It has to be someone else. Once we get this place cleaned up, I'm going to see what I can dig up from the demons."

* * *

Later during the night, a beautiful kunoichi dashed through the darkness of the night. She sped across roof tops of New York, searching for the same demon hunted by the Order of Magdalene. Her long black hair fluttered in the wind as she sped forward, with a knife held at her side. The kunoichi approached the darkened wilderness of the city park and found several demons gathered in a camp. The demons seemed to be feasting on the spoils of a bountiful hunt.

The camp smelled of blood and burnt flesh. There was a fire at the centre of the camp, which the demons were gathered around. The demons were eating the flesh of various things they had hunted. Their meal ranged from familiar game animals to strange creatures, likely other demons, to even unfortunate humans. As the demons ate, one of them tossed a bone into a pile near the kunoichi. She quickly hid behind the hill to avoid being seen.

The leader, a baphomet, chomped down on the remains of demon prey. "Mmm... delicious," it muttered between bites.

The kunoichi couldn't help but feel her stomach churn at the cannibalism of the demons. The chief demon, that baphomet, put a juicy rib into his mouth. As he did so, the kunoichi, Kagero, noticed something on the baphomet's head. It was a brown emblem, which depicted a wolf's head. The emblem matched the description of her mark, the Beast Rune. Since her mission was only to locate the Rune, she did not need to engage the demons. In fact, they outnumbered her nearly twenty to one and her poison breath might not even work on them.

Kagero left to inform her masters. However, as she exited the camp perimeter, a patrolling demon heard a light shuffling from some trees. The devilish creature looked up and noticed her leaping towards a new tree. "Intruder!" he cried.

Kagero glanced behind and noticed the baphomet who had spotted her. The demon gave chase, expanding its wings to lift into the air. It hurled a bolt of dark magic, which Kagero evaded, causing it to sail into the tree, rotting away the branch she stood on. As she tumbled down, Kagero hurled a kunai, catching her pursuer into the chest and knocking him out of the sky. Kagero landed on ground, covered in twigs and dirt. She quickly bounced back up and hopped from tree to tree out of the park.

However, the demon's cry had alerted friends to his location. Kagero could feel the demonic blood lust converge on her location. She looked over her shoulder and saw three more baphomets in pursuit. She hurled a kunai. The target banked behind a tree, causing the blade to dig into the bark. One of them caught up to her and lunged, narrowly missing as she hopped out of the way. As she descended to ground, she hurled a kunai, impaling the demon in the head. It tumbled off the branch and hit the ground with a thud.

The third demon hurled a bolt of dark magic. It surprised her, grazing her in the ribs even as she tried to evade. The wound stung sharply and felt like fire burning at her side. The demon, sensing victory, closed to finish her off. At the demon closed, Kagero spewed poison breath at him. The demon coughed and gagged, momentarily incapacitated. She used this opportunity to run for her life. Though she was far enough that pursuit was impossible, the wound was growing worse.

Eventually, she met a man with a strong, masculine face in a darkened alleyway. The mysterious man was dressed like a prohibition gangster and was her contact. "Saemon, I found the Rune," announced Kagero, who proceeded to identify the location.

"Good, but we need to get you medical attention," said Saemon. "You must have been poisoned."

* * *

Some time later, a squadron of a dozen Juraian warships exited hyperspace in the solar system. They descended upon the planet Earth, covering the sky enough to blot out the sun over New York City. All over the city, people looked up and pointed at the ships. When they realized that this was an alien evasion, panic set in. They made hasty preparations to escape the city, trampling others in their mad dash to safety. Soldiers were storming New York City Hall. Armoured vehicles were circling the perimeter as soldiers had the surrounding area closed off.

Stormtroopers herded frightened office workers, clerks, and even the mayor into a single room at gunpoint. As quickly as they came, the Juraians, occupied City Hall and used it as their base of operations. The flagship of the invasion force moved above City Hall, to show the Juraian dominance of the city. "To all citizens of New York, your city is now under martial law by the authority of the Juraian Secessionist movement. There will now be a midnight curfew. Anyone caught violating curfew will be shot on sight," announced each and every ship over speakers.

The highest echelons of US government soon learned that they had been invaded by aliens. With a few days to prepare, the US launched its counterattack. Biplanes sped through the air in a beeline for one of the Juraian ships. On the ship, a weapons node glowed with blue light, moments before unleashing a stream of energy. That single shot incinerated its victim, sending the biplane spiralling to the ground in flames. The others attempted to dodge the counterattack and prepare their own.

One of the planes circled around and unloaded bullets into the ship. All these shots did was hit a barrier of energy, made from the power of the Light Hawk Wings. The Juraian ship fired again, burning off the right wing of a closing biplane. The pilot lost control over his vehicle and it started to careen to the ground. One by one, did the biplanes go down, until they could take no more. The biplanes fled to cut their losses. Their attack was a failure.

* * *

On the ground, the Secessionists had sealed all exits into and out of New York City. They were not taking any chances of the someone getting out of their net. There were roadblocks at every road leading into and out of the city, constantly manned and guarded by soldiers and armoured vehicles. The Secessionists wanted one thing, the Beast Rune. The Order of Magdalene, soon received a brown envelope in the mail. The head nun and leader of the regional branch, Sister Kate Valentine, opened it and perused the contents.

They were orders from the Juraian occupiers, directly from the office of the mayor in City Hall. They wanted the Order of Magdalene's regional branch to begin its own hunt for the Beast Rune. Included in the envelope was a picture of the Rune, an artist's conception of what it might look like based on intelligence reports. Sister Valentine put down the letter and sighed. In the room with her was Father Ewan Remington a young, blond-haired man. He took the orders from Sister Kate and read them. "Now the Juraians are giving us orders?" asked Father Remington.

"Yes, they want us to search for something called the Beast Rune," said Sister Valentine.

"Why us? Why don't they just send their soldiers to handle it on their own?" asked Father Remington.

"It's a magical object," replied Sister Valentine. "A demon has possession of it. Since we have some expertise in this area, they're want us handle it."

"I wonder kind of power this thing has?"

"Whatever power it has, it must be great for them to want it so badly," suggested Sister Valentine. She sighed. "I'll put Rosette, Chrono, and Azmaria on this." After sending the summons to the young nun, Rosette came charging into the office about half an hour later. Kate was exasperated. "You're late! What took you so long?"

"Sorry Sister Valentine," said Rosette.

The senior nun sighed. "For now, put the murdered demons case on hold. We've got new orders for you. They came from the Juraians," said Sister Valentine.

"The Juraians?" asked Rosette. "The aliens invaders?"

"Yes, they want us to find something called the 'Beast Rune' for them."

Sister Valentine showed them the picture of the Beast Rune. Rosette was perplexed as she looked over the picture. "What's so special about some tattoo?"

"If I knew, I would tell you," admitted Kate. "Their intelligence indicates that a baphomet has possession of the Rune."

"A baphomet?" wondered Chrono.

"Remember, take a capturing device to seal the Rune and don't make a mess of it like you always do!" said Sister Valentine.

Rosette become apologetic. "Yes Sister Valentine, don't worry about that. You can count on me!" said Rosette.

As they left, Azmaria decided to chime in. "I'll get our gear ready Rosette. Get the car ready while you wait."

Azmaria split off from the group to retrieve their gear. In the meantime, Rosette and Chrono went to the garage and drove a car out to the front of the Order compound. Once Azmaria loaded the gear into car, they sped off to the last known location of the baphomet, the park. They searched the wooded area and found a site with piles of discarded bones with most of the flesh eaten off. At the centre of the camp was a circle of charcoal within a ring of stones.

The whole place was a mess and reeked of rotting flesh. Whoever was here had quite a party a while back and left the scraps and garbage for them to clean up. "Eew, this stinks..." remarked Rosette.

Chrono looked at some tracks in the ground. They were prints from a set of cloven feet. "No doubt about it, these are baphomet tracks. They're fresh so they were here not too long ago."

Chrono's group followed the tracks, which led back into the city where the trail ended. Though the trail had been scattered by the people living in this residential district, they at least knew the general area to search. When night fell, they returned to the area, where Chrono's reached out with demonic power to detect demons in the vicinity. He detected great emissions of demonic energy some distance north of the location where the tracks ended.

Chrono led his team to the source, to find one of their allies, Satella, battling a horde of baphomets. The area looked like a natural disaster had come through. Several cars had been overturned and several police officers were sprawled dead on the streets. There were cracks in the streets, complemented by a water spout where a fire hydrant used to stand. The police had formed a barricade with their cars well away from the battle, after their first had been overrun by demons. Rosette presented a writ from the Order of Magdalene, authorizing her to enter and confront the demons.

Rosette drew guns and charged in, hoping to divert attention and relieve pressure on Satella. She fired several shots which tagged a baphomet in the back. Upon seeing their ally drop, the other baphomets shifted ranks to prepare to battle Rosette and Chrono. "Well, you guys again. I was wondering when you'd show up," remarked Satella.

"Yeah, where would you be without us?" asked Rosette to rib her.

The combined forces of the Order and Satella demolished demons everywhere they could find. Rosette's guns spewed countless bullets, each shot dropping a demon. Satella's knight, a spirit summoned by her jewels, cut down another baphomet. Its sword continued its path, cleaving two more baphomets in its wake. After the bodies piled up, the Order and Satella were left face to face with a single baphomet. This lone survivor was taller than the rest and brimmed with fierce energy. On its head glowed the Beast Rune, filling it with a ferocious power.

"Looks like this one's the big boss," said Satella.

"Yep, just the one we're looking for," said Rosette. "Let's take him down!"

Rosette unloaded a massive volley of bullets. The demon shuddered as each shot dug into its flesh. Despite this, it continued to advance, ignoring the bullets raining on him like drops of water. It spewed a blast of black miasma, which Rosette evaded by diving to safety. She ran behind a toppled car and fired from the safety of cover. One of her shots struck the creature in the forehead, momentarily dazing it. Satella saw this opening and sent her ghostly in to attack from the open flank.

The knight slashed the baphomet in temple, causing its head rear back with the blow. The blow also jarred the baphomet back to regaining its composure. The demon backed off, causing the knight's second attack to only graze him in the chest. The baphomet staggered back, but quickly recovered, and decked the knight in the face. The jewel knight fell back near Satella. Rosette peeked out and resumed fire. The baphomet shuddered with each bullet that struck it.

However, the creature was withstanding her shots and started to advance. "Azmaria, are you done with the field?" asked Rosette.

"Almost," she replied, running to a new location to place a small cross. "Done! Field on!"

A field of golden light engulfed the area enclosed by the crosses. The baphomet gasped in pain as divine power seared its body. It was brought to its knees, unsuccessfully willing himself to maintain his composure. The baphomet's rage intensified and through a supreme effort of guts, it charged out of the barrier. Rosette fled as it crashed into the toppled car. The baphomet's blind charge sent the car crashing down the street, right at the police barricade. The cops, ever quick on their toes, fled moments before the car smashed into theirs, punching an opening into their barricade.

"Whoa!" remarked Rosette.

"I don't think even Aion was ever that powerful," commented Satella as she approached and took cover next to Rosette around the corner of a tailor's shop.

The baphomet lifted a wrecked car nearby and hurled it at the team. They fled deeper into the alley as the car tore off a portion of the shop corner. "Satella, I'm going to use a Gospel shell," cried Rosette.

After exiting the alley, Rosette opened her handgun. She placed a particularly large bullet into the chamber, one which resembled a canister rather than a bullet. After closing the chamber, she saw the baphomet entering the alley to chase them down. Without any hesitation, she let the Gospel shell loose. It scored a direct hit to the baphomet's chest and exploded. Rosette dove for cover as the shell burst and scattered silvery shrapnel all over the alley. The sharp slivers sliced the baphomet fatally.

Once the shrapnel had stopped coming, Azmaria quickly erected a barrier around the baphomet's corpse. Again, the crosses enclosed the area with divine power, isolating the Rune from the outside world. Chrono fetched the capturing device and set it on the ground near the corpse, staying well away from the Rune. Once active, the machine sucked the Rune within, confining its power to a single, hermetically-sealed space.

"Phew, that was quite a fight," remarked Chrono.

Juraian occupation forces, attracted by the fighting and its ensuing destruction, came to investigate. Their commander approached Rosette. "Ah, so I see you've succeeded in our mission. We can take the Rune from here," said the man.

"STOP!" cried Tenchi as he and his team ran to the area.

"Runecaptors! Blast them!" ordered the commander.

The Secessionists drew weapons and fired upon the Runecaptor team. Tenchi brought a Light Hawk Wing before him, shielding himself from harm. He swung his sword, extending the laser blade right into the soldier's shoulder. His victim collapsed from pain as Tenchi went for another. The two groups distracted, Rosette's group had been forgotten in the exchange. Chrono quickly retrieved the box and fled the battle as quickly as he could. He joined up with the others a safe distance away.

"What's going on? Who were those guys?" asked Rosette as she peeked around a corner.

"No idea and I don't want to find out. Let's get back to the Order while they're busy with each other," recommended Chrono.

* * *

Sister Valentine looked over the device which held the Beast Rune. "Good work and for once, you aren't to blame for the destroying the city," said Sister Valentine.

Rosette let out a laugh. "Well, I guess you can call me lucky today."

A bald, muscular Japanese man entered the office of Sister Valentine. He was a powerful man who looked like he could literally break someone in half with his bare hands. "I am Gyobu Kasumi. I have come on behalf of Prince Yosho to collect the Rune."

"Of course, it is in this container," announced Sister Valentine.

The Koga ninja picked up the container and looked at the contents through a window. "Everything appears to be in order. I will take this to my master." As quickly as he had arrived, Gyobu left with the Rune.

Back at the battlefield, the Runecaptors had emerged victorious. The bodies of Juraian soldiers were strewn about the area, overwhelmed by the power of the heroes. Everyone else, police and spectators, had fled to avoid the danger from such a destructive battle. They searched the area for the Rune, but found nothing. The other party involved in the exchange had fled while the two sides were busy with each other.

"Where is the Rune now?" asked Gohan.

"Let me concentrate," replied Tory, who calmed himself and let his other senses reach out. He suddenly felt the Rune's power ebbing from above. "It's in outer space. Yosho has it... It's gone!"

"Oh great," remarked Ryoko, who was livid. "We came all this way out here for nothing. I knew I should have slept in."

** END OF CHAPTER**

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** SPOTLIGHT: Chrono Crusade (Great Jerusalem) **

Politics/Demographics:  
Great Jerusalem is like the real world during the Roaring Twenties after the First World War, similar in every way from politics to culture. However, this world also has demon inhabitants as well, but they largely stay away from the public eye in the darkness of night. The Order of Magdalene, an alliance of several religions including Christianity, hunts demons to keep them from harming the people.

Characters/VIPs:  
Rosette Christopher is a demon hunter of the Order, though a particularly destructive one. Her team mates include Azmaria Hendrich, her junior, and Chrono, a demon who is contracted to her. The Jewel Witch, Satella Harvenheit, is an independent demon bounty hunter who often works with the team on various contracts.

Powers:  
Great Jerusalem has a technological level equivalent to the Real World of the Roaring Twenties. However, it also has magic, including the divine kind used by the Order to fight demons. The demons themselves practice various dark arts which grant them superhuman abilities.

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** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Beast Rune **  
Domain: Animals, passion, emotion  
Duality: Passion versus Rage  
Appearance: A brown wolf's head  
Powers: summon/control beasts, enhanced physical condition, beast shape-shifting

Description:  
This Rune represents the raw passion and fury of the wild. As a result of its affinity for the wild, it can control animals and call them to the bearer. It also makes the bearer incredibly strong and resilient, capable of great feats of physical strength. However, the bearer adopts the passion and fury of the animal world, possibly becoming a wild beast filled with only rage.


	20. Secession 3: Sara's Teacher

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

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Secession War, part 3: Sara's Teacher 

In the translation tent, Clow Reed continued at the translations of Harmonian texts. An interesting book came across his desk. It was from the Royal Harmonian Library. Reed dusted off the book, a thick red tome, which was a history book on the Grasslands to the southwest. The Grasslands were once controlled by a coalition of six clans. Compared to neighbouring countries, they were seen as a rather backward group of people, even barbaric.

Harmonia had attempted to conquer it and was successful at first, being more than a match for these tribes. Eventually, these tribes united under a single leader known as the Flame Champion, a past bearer of the Fire Rune. At the peak of this war, the First Firebringer War, the Flame Champion unleashed the terrible power of his Rune upon the Harmonians. It brought devastation to their army as well as the Grasslands army. The sheer losses forced both sides into a peace agreement and ended the war.

A Second Firebringer War had happened many years later, with far greater success. Harmonia was able to reach all the way to the Zexen border to the west. However, the Grasslands Clans and the Zexen united under one army and repelled the Harmonians. There was more to the Harmonian invasion than mere imperialist desires. Working amongst the Harmonians was a renegade bishop named Luc. His name appeared in other texts and apparently, he was the Wind Rune's bearer at the time.

Apparently, this Luc hated his role as a Rune Bearer. He was seeing visions of the future, which Reed determined from other texts were visions of an apocalypse brought on by the Runes. Luc wanted to destroy his Wind Rune, but such an act required great power, which meant the power of other Runes. It was also a very destructive act, one with enough power to annihilate the entire Grasslands. Fortunately, the Firebringer stopped him before any damage could be done. However, this knowledge weighed on Reed heavily, realizing that the future Luc feared had come to pass in the No-Man's-Land.

Today, with the wars again happening over the Runes, history was repeating itself. With it came the threat of the Runes going out of control, annihilating all in their wake. He had no idea how widespread this damage could be, but if Luc's plans and the No-Man's-Land were any indication, it would be massive. As he pondered this information, he felt a pulse of power ripple through the planes. He traced it to Akama, the home world of his archaeologist friends. It came from a loose Rune, which emanated powerful psionic power. He saw the image of a single eye of glowing blue light, whose very gaze pierced deeply into the mind.

He immediately summoned Tory and Sara McDougal to his tent. "Hi Tory, I just detected another Rune over in Akama."

"Akama? You mean where I'm from?" asked Sara.

"Right," replied Reed. "In fact, it's in the tunnels under the Hinata House where you live. Since you are familiar with the area, I want you guide Tory and his team to it."

"Okay Master Reed, you can count on me," assured Sara.

Tory and Sara left to gather the others and opened a portal directly to Sara's home. Upon exiting, they came upon a quaint Japanese inn made out of wood. It had a very old world, feudal charm to it, but still had the modern conveniences such as electricity. At the back was the hot spring, the house's major attraction. Although formerly a hot springs inn, it was now a girls' boarding house. This was the Hinata House, Sara's home, and also where the archaeologist Keitaro Urashima acted as landlord.

"Come, I'll introduce you to the girls," said Sara as she crossed the last step of an outdoors staircase.

The first resident was also the oldest. She was a lovely, mature Japanese woman who wore an apron. She smoked a cigarette while she was sweeping the ground floors of leaves and dirt. She was the manager of the tea house and was simply performing her daily chores to keep the area presentable. She was Keitaro's aunt, Haruka Urashima, who ran the Hinata House while Keitaro was working at the Crystal Valley dig.

"Hi Sara," greeted Haruka. "Back so soon? Didn't you go with your dad to help him on the dig?"

"Yeah, I'm here on some important business. I'll be going back once I'm finished," replied Sara. "Everyone, meet Haruka Urashima. She's manages the tea house and the inn while Keitaro is away."

From inside the tea house, a second girl looked up from cleaning tables and pots. She noticed Sara and went out to meet her. She was a shifty woman with perpetually closed eyes and a playful, impish disposition. Due to her love of pranks and her fox-like disposition, she had been given the nickname of "Kitsune." Kitsune was wiping counters and cleaning pots for incoming guests. "Well, look who's back," she greeted.

"I won't be back for long. I'm just here to run an errand," she replied. "It's nice to see you. How is everybody?"

"Everything's fine. The girls are getting along well and the House is in tip-top condition," said Haruka.

"Oh and you brought me some nice souvenirs. Why don't you introduce me to those hot hunks with you?" asked Mitsune, batting flirtatious glances at Gohan, Tenchi, and Tory.

"That's Mitsune Konno. We just call her Kitsune," introduced Sara.

"Hi, I'm Gohan Son. I'm kinda spoken for already," he replied.

"Oh crud! How about the cute guy in the robes..."

"Oh, that's Tory," replied Sara. "We're kinda in a hurry. I want to introduce us to everyone before we check out to the tunnels under the House as soon as possible."

"Well, once he's done spelunking down below, perhaps he can go spelunking with me?" asked Kitsune flirtatiously.

"Er yeah maybe..." remarked Tory evasively.

Next, Sara led the team to the Hinata House's living room, where the other girls were lounging around. The first was a fairly typical, browned haired Japanese girl named Naru. The second was a gentle, but frail girl named Mutsumi. The third was a blue-haired girl named Shinobu. The fourth looked and was dressed like a shrine maiden, and was named Motoko. Each of the girls was doing their own thing. Sara introduced each of the girls to her team, one after the other.

Sara moved to the last girl, a bubbly blonde with brown skin. "This is my friend, Kaolla Su."

"Hi!" she said. "Did you come here to play?"

"No, sorry, we have some important things to do," said Sara. "We need to get to the shrine to the north."

"Ah you're no fun. Ever since you went to that school, you never have time for me," said Kaolla pouting.

"I've been very busy," apologized Sara. "I'll play with you the first chance I get."

Sara led the people to the facade of a ruins somewhere in the wilderness at the back of the Hinata House. The ruins were quite old, dating back to the time of ancient civilizations. There were designs and art on the stone structures which depicted turtles doing various day-to-day chores. These had been excavated by Sara's adopted father, Seta, during a visit over to the House. They belonged to a turtle civilization which had once existed in the area.

"Be careful," warned Sara. "There might be traps. We set off several of them the first time we were here, but might have missed some."

"Oh, now you tell us," remarked Ryoko sarcastically. "We could've blown ourselves to bits!"

"Don't worry, this tunnel should be safe since we went through it," assured Sara.

Fortunately, the group had not encountered any traps on the way to the deepest chamber. There, they found the heart of a temple, a stone room filled with murals of the turtles in prayer. At the centre was a stone altar, but nothing was on it. "The Rune's somewhere in this room," said Tory. "Let's look around. Keep an eye out for anything that looks like an eye."

The group searched the room, examining anything that might resemble an eye with great scrutiny. The way the murals were drawn, it would be easy for the Rune to blend in with them. They depicted countless turtles facing sideways in worship of their god. Their god hovered over the altar, glowing with radiant light. Due to the way the picture was, there were a lot of eyes depicted. Any one of them could be the Eye Rune, pretending to be part of the mural to hide from them.

Ryoko scanned the mural and saw some sort of gleaming at the edge of her sight. She immediately turned to what she thought was the source, one of the turtle god's eyes. The eye was just there doing nothing other than be a typical painting. A few moments later, Sara felt an emanation of power and looked around. The sensation came as quickly as it went, far too quickly for her to ascertain its exact location, other than it being in this room.

She suddenly felt the sensation again and this time, discovered where it came from. "It's the god's eye!" cried Sara. She reached for a capsule, but the Rune was already gone. "It vanished!"

"That was a teleportation power. It moved to a new location. Hold on, I'll try to track it," said Tory. He closed his eyes and reach out with his sixth sense. He caught a glimpse of a girl's school and the name "Mahora Academy" on a sign. "It went to Mahora Academy."

"Where my teacher works?" asked Sara. "We might be able to ask him for help. Let's go."

* * *

Sara's team approached the school known as Mahora Academy, a school for girls ranging from middle school to high school. It looked more like a university or college than a mere school, with buildings filled with many lecture halls. School was in and several girls in violet suits and plaid skirts moved about campus. Everyone seemed happy and carefree. Random girls would gossip about each other and the boys they met while away from school. They were unaware of the danger of the Eye Rune hidden within the grounds.

The group passed through the entry arch, where Sara glanced back at her team. "Come on! We're almost there!" Eventually, Sara brought her team up to the front of a lecture building. "Wait right here, I'll fetch Negi."

Sara split off from the group and travelled down to the hallways to class 3A, the room where Negi taught his students. Sara peeked in through the door's window and saw her magic teacher giving a lesson to the all girl class. Unlike most teachers, Negi was a cute little burgundy-haired kid who couldn't be older than ten years. He was younger than the very girls he taught. Sara had met many of the girls in his class. Many of those girls had been born into or have had contact with the world of magic and the supernatural.

Negi noticed his student peering in from the window of the door. "Okay class, please open your books and study today's chapter for the time being," said Negi, who spoke with a noticeable Welsh accent. He went to check up on Sara. "Hi Sara, I didn't expect you to show up here. How have you been doing?"

"Everything's great," replied Sara. "Professor Negi, I need your help with something important."

Sara told Negi about how she fell in with the Runecaptors and how she was trying to retrieve one of the 27 True Runes. "I see, so one of these Runes is on the school grounds?"

"Yes, our magicians detected it teleporting here," replied Sara. "It's very dangerous so we'd like some help dealing with it."

"Of course, anything for one of my students," assured Negi.

Once his class was finished, Sara introduced the members of team to her teacher. "Your teacher is a little boy?" asked Ryoko.

"Hey, pay Master Negi more respect!" complained Sara.

"That's alright, I get that a lot," dismissed Negi.

"We should be more worried about that Rune," interjected Al. "We're wasting too much time here."

"Yeah, let's try looking in this building," suggested Tory.

While the Runecaptors searched the lecture building, one of Negi's students, Nodoka, travelled across campus. The meek, violet-haired girl carried several books with her to the school library, situated in a separate location from the other buildings on a small island in a lake. The library was much larger than the building suggested. It was vast and extended deep into the ground. Many chambers were also filled with traps, making it adventure to find certain books. In a way, it was more of a dungeon from a fantasy game rather than a library.

At the counter was a violet-haired girl with a world-weary look. "Hi Nodoka," greeted the librarian.

"Hi Yue," replied Nodoka.

"Now that you're here, could you shelve these books?" asked Yue, referring to a pile in the alcove behind. "They go to the second basement."

"Sure no problem," replied Nodoka, putting her backpack in an out of the way area.

She loaded the books on a cart and wheeled it to an elevator. Once on the second basement, she reshelved each an every book, about a dozen in total. After putting the last one in its place, she noticed a small flicker of white light from behind the shelves. She went to investigate and found the source on the cover of a history book. The source was an eye-like emblem which glowed with azure light. With the eye emblem on it, the history book looked more like a wizard's spell book.

The emblem seemed to almost speak directly into her mind, whispering of knowledge she could not possibly comprehend. All of a sudden, the emblem flashed brightly and attached itself to her forehead. Nodoka suddenly received an influx of chatter, as though many people were speaking to her at once. Yet, no one was there but her. As she received this chatter, she also received a flood of images, from students reading to Yue shelving books.

"I've been at this for an hour and I still haven't dented this pile of books," said Yue. As she said that, he lips weren't moving. She simply continued to shelved books.

"Is this what Yue's thinking?" wondered Nodoka. "My book can read minds, but I haven't opened it. It's not even out..."

She eventually focused on a series of thoughts from someone outside of the lecture building. "The Rune is that way," said Tory, pointing the library out to a group of friends.

_"He will hurt you,"_ resounded an unknown voice in her mind.

It frightened her. "What?" she asked.

_"He will hurt you,"_ resounded an unknown voice in her mind. _"Run away before he finds you."_

Nodoka quickly turned her mind towards who could help her. She focused on Yue. _"She wants Negi too. Can you trust her?"_

"Who are you?" she asked to no one in particular.

The voice didn't respond. Nodoka suddenly received an image of Tory's group approaching Yue at the front desk. Negi was with them. "Hi Yue, can we look around the library?" asked Negi. "There's something important we must find."

"No problem. Nodoka went down early to shelve some books. Let her know if you bump into her," replied Yue.

_"Your teacher is one of them too,"_ said the voice. _"They're all out to get you."_

Nodoka saw a vision of Tory glaring at her menacingly. Tory sprayed lightning from his fingertips. The electricity ripped through the air, illuminating the library and arcing all over her body. She convulsed in pain, yet Tory would not stop the assault. That image vanished and a new one appeared in her mind, one of Tory casting an unknown spell. It created some sort of bluish, translucent barrier around the library. "Is he trying to trap us here?" asked Nodoka.

_"Yes,"_ said the voice. _"There's nowhere to run. You must fight your way out."_

"How? I'm not strong enough to beat my teacher and not if he has help," said Nodoka.

_"I can grant you the strength,"_ assured the voice. _"Call on my power and you'll succeed."_

As Sara and Negi's group approached the elevator to the lower floors, Nodoka came out of the doors of a second elevator. Before they could say a word, a telekinetic force hurled Sara out of the way. She went sliding over a table, knocking away books and crashed to the ground. The group was stunned, which Nodoka exploited to hurl Gohan, Ryoko, and Negi into the walls. Just as she went for Tory, he emitted a cloud of darkness which blunted the telekinesis.

Tory saw the Rune on Nodoka's forehead. "The Eye Rune has got her," said Tory. "We have to..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Nodoka ignited fires around him. Tory cowered behind the magical darkness as the flames licked at his body. The darkness was his only defence, the only thing keeping him from being incinerated. Ed and Al alchemically reshaped the ground and trapped Nodoka within a shell of cement. "You're not getting away again!" said Ed.

Nodoka merely walked through the cement like an incorporeal ghost. She sprayed lightning upon them, sending them convulsing painfully to the ground. During the confrontation, Tenchi got to her back and conked her with the handle of his sword. It did not knock her out; only staggered her. She turned around and blasted Tenchi with freezing air, encasing him in a shell of of ice. Negi bounced back into action, tagging her with a volley of lighting arrows. The shock of being hit by surprise caused Nodoka to stagger backwards.

Negi began a second spell, but Nodoka emitted a shrill mental screech. The sound was unbearable, yet he was the only one who could hear it. It was so shrill and irritating that it broke Negi's concentration and forced him to cover his ears. In the midst of this, Sara recovered and immediately employed the capsule on the Rune. It started to drag the magical emblem from her forehead, forcing it to hold on with everything it had. Nodoka winced in pain. _"Stop her!"_ commanded the Rune.

"How?" asked Nodoka.

_"Anything, as long as it breaks her concentration."_

Nodoka gritted her teeth and shut out the pain of the Rune being peeled off. "Stop it!" she cried as she reached for some dirt in a potted plant and threw it at Sara's eyes.

In the middle of its flight, Negi had recovered from the screeching. He immediately generated some wind which blew the dirt off course. The winds continued on to Nodoka, forcing her to cover herself. As this happened, the Eye Rune was rapidly losing its hold on her. _"Still not at full strength... Damn you, Hikusaak!"_

Tory sprang back to life and pushed the darkness onto Nodoka. The Rune, vulnerable to such power, weakened and snapped off of Nodoka's forehead. Sara's capsule sucked it in and locked it safely inside. Nodoka, deprived of the Rune's power, lost consciousness. Negi caught her in his arms before she hit the ground. "Is she going to be okay?" asked Gohan after getting off the ground.

"Don't worry, she just lost consciousness. She should recover fairly quickly," said Negi. "At least we stopped the Rune's threat."

"Yep, good work, especially you, Sara," said Tory. "Negi taught you well."

"Thanks Tory," said Sara.

** END OF CHAPTER**

** SPOTLIGHT: Akama (Negima & Love Hina)**

Politics/Demographics:  
Akama is a world with governments much like that of the Real World. However, it also has a hidden magical side, which is normally separate from the regular world. Those who practised magic stayed out of the public spot light in the past, but recent contact with other anime worlds has obligated them to go public.

Characters/VIPs:  
Several members of the archaeology team working and staying at the Harmonian dig site are natives of this world. Of them, Sara McDougal is one of the standouts. Her friends at the Hinata House are also from this world. Her magic teacher, Negi Springfield, also hails from this world, as does his class of 3A.

Powers:  
While technologically equivalent to the Real World, Akama also has magic and ki powers within it as well. In this world, magic and ki are opposing branches of mystical powers that normally can't be used together, unless one knew a very specific technique. Magic is Western in nature, drawing power from outside and favours groups of practitioners supporting each other. Ki, on the other hand, tends to solitary practitioners who draw power from within using talismans and charms.

** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Eye Rune **  
Domain: Perception, Senses, Psionics, Mind  
Duality: Omniscience vs Insanity  
Appearance: A blue lidless eye  
Powers: Grants user a wide array of psionic-based powers

Description:  
This powerful Rune can grant its bearer power over the mind and the ability to use various psionic abilities. By having this Rune, the user can achieve omniscience, but at a terrible price. A mortal mind is incapable of handling the flood of knowledge that this Rune can grant them. It slowly erodes the person's mind, eventually leading them to insanity.


	21. First Contact 3: Passion and Rage

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises. This chapter features Rental Magica anime from Zexcs.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

****

First Contact, part 3: Passion and Rage 

It was a typical day in a Japanese neighbourhood of the world of Magica. Cars congested the streets as salary men and office workers commuted to corporate buildings. The birds chirped in the trees in the parks, free of any care in the world. Nestled in the urban sprawl was a quiet mansion surrounded by white walls. On the address plaque was the word "Astral," the name of the company occupying the location, promising "a mage to meet your needs."

This company, Astral, was a wizard dispatching company. It operating by taking contracts to deal with supernatural threats from various clients. One such client approached the door to this establishment. He was a fairly normal, clean shaven Japanese man clad in a trench coat. Upon knocking, he was welcomed in by a bespectacled Japanese girl in a black witch's hat and cloak. The brunette gathered the members of her company to the lounge, where the man presented them a contract.

Among the members meeting the client were five people. The first was the company's president, a Japanese boy with an eye patch over his right eye. The second was a senior member with white hair who wore a white shrine garb. The third was the youngest, a shrine maiden. The fourth was a spectral Japanese girl. The fifth and final member was a blonde Caucasian girl with hair in curls. They were motley crew, each representing a different school or method of practising magic.

"Hello, my name is Simon Kisaragi," introduced the man, handing each Astral member a business card with contact information. "I'd like to hire you for a job."

"Of course, Mr. Kisaragi," addressed the girl, Honami. "What would you like us to do?"

"At Yamato Park, there is a chunk of ice with a special Rune within it. I'd like you to retrieve for me," requested Simon.

He showed Astral a picture of the item he wanted. The Rune resembled a drop of water and glowed with a watery blue light that made it quite prominent. It was encased within a clear piece of ice which was floating on top of some water. From other photographs, they determined that the Rune was at a small wading pool for children. The pictures had been taken at night, but the photos were kept lit by the flash of the camera.

"I'm willing to offer you 100M yen to perform the job. I just want to warn you that you may face competition for this item. Also, this item may attack you if you try to claim it. If either case, if you must fight, be prepared. It is very important that this job gets done. You don't have to answer me now, but once you make your decision, call me by tomorrow night and let me know," said Simon.

Simon gathered his materials and left Astral. Once he did, Astral continued its meeting. "I don't know, this job seems fishy," remarked the bespectacled girl, Honami. "He's paying a bit too much just for one little job. It sounds too good to be true."

"I don't know about that. He did say upfront that we might have to fight for it," pointed out the blonde, Adelicia. "I'll agree that if he's paying so much, it must mean this job is very dangerous."

"Still, that's quite a lot of money," retorted Honami.

"I say we go for it," said Astral's president, Itsuki. "We could make a fortune on just this one job. I'll put all of Astral resources on this one to make sure we do it right."

The other members voted unanimously to do the job. Since she was outvoted, Honami decided to follow the group. Itsuki dialled Simon's number on the phone and told him the good news. After a day of preparation, Astral mobilized the following night. They hit Yamato Park as a team, covering their passage through the wooded environment. They made it close to the Rune's wading pool without incident, which was quite fortunate.

"Okay, I'll begin the sealing spell," announced Honami.

"Not so fast!" said an unknown female voice.

A pair of girls, Sakura and Madison, descended from the sky. A trio of teenagers and their monster companions approached from behind on the ground. Astral turned to face their adversaries. "That thing is dangerous. Leave it alone!" announced Madison.

"Who are you?" asked Itsuki.

"We here to remove that thing. I don't want to have to fight you, but I can't let you have it. Let me take it somewhere safe and we'll leave," said Sakura.

"No way, we're being paid big money from our client for this," said Adelicia. "We are not going to let you have it."

"They won't budge, Sakura. We're going to have to fight them," warned Madison.

"Hey, I was getting bored back here. Time for some fun," remarked Marcus.

"Yeah boss," repeated Agumon.

Itsuki tried to move to attack, but found his body wouldn't react. "I can't move!" he announced to Astral. "Something's caught me!"

Adelicia tried to help him, but found herself immobilized. "I can't move too!"

Honami struggled but was trapped as well. "Me too! What's got me?"

Shikamaru emerged from hiding, his shadow connected to Itsuki and the other Astral members. In effect, their movements were linked to his. A horde of Naruto clones leapt out of hiding, descending on the white-haired senior Astral member, Nekoyashiki, and the young shrine maiden, Mikan. The Naruto clones wrestled them to the ground and pinned them there. More clones entered the area. Shikamaru released his Shadow Possession to allow them to pin down the remaining Astral members.

Adelicia attempted to wriggle free, but Rock Lee stepped on her free hand. "Don't think about it," Rock Lee warned.

Sakura immediately sealed the Rune, the Water Rune, within her capsule. "Okay, I got it."

She and Madison immediately opened a gate entered Crystal Valley. The DATS tamers followed and the ninja vanished in puffs of smoke, leaving behind logs where they were once standing. "Great, now what are we going to tell Simon?" asked Adelicia.

* * *

Upon return to Runecaptor base, Sakura placed the Rune on a free slot in the altar. Several minutes later, they met Clow Reed to learn of their next move. "Good work everybody. I haven't found any new Runes yet, so let's focus on retrieving the ones from the STAB for now."

With the Illusion Card, Clow Reed showed them a picture of a white, sterile building made of brick and metal. This building was a STAB R&D laboratory, known simply as Lab 1. It was here that the Runes were being kept for study. It was heavily guarded, with soldiers positioned nearly every step of the way into the building. Just a few blocks away was a STAB military base, so the Rune hunters from STAB were certain to be in the area.

"To break into the lab, you'll need a diversion," suggested Reed. "DATS will provide that by attacking the base. Raze it if you want. In the meantime, the others will break into the lab and steal the Rune. Time is of the essence. If they continue their experiments, it's only a matter time before they accidentally activate the Runes and set them loose. Please hurry."

"Of course Master Reed," said Sakura.

"I'll open a gate to where you need to go. Do not dally. We don't have time to waste."

Sakura's team immediately entered the portal and found themselves in the wilderness of an unknown world. In the distance, they could see a massive skyscraper of a public building. As they approached, they came upon a chain-link fence with barbed wire running along the top. In the distance, they could see several soldiers patrolling around in the open, grassy flat land. Some were in towers which cast spot lights on the ground.

"This must be the base. We're going to deal with this one," said Yoshino. "You guys get to the lab and contact us when you're ready to break in."

Sakura's infiltration party split away and approached a sterile, white building some distance from the army base. On the sign on the lawn before this building was sign which read "Space Time Administration Bureau Lab 1." That was their target. Like the army base, there were soldiers patrolling the area, though not as heavily as the base. It was mostly an area for research rather than for training and housing soldiers. Nevertheless, they still had local security to contend with.

"Yoshino, we're here, you can start whenever you're ready," said Sakura over a radio.

"Okay, just watch for the fireworks!" said Marcus over the line.

The Digimon of DATS immediately ascended to their Ultimate levels and flew directly at the base. Some STAB mages spotted them and opened fire. One mage scored a direct hit on Rise Greymon, who didn't feel anything but a slight tickle. The cyborg Digimon immediately spun his gun barrel and unloaded ammunition at anything he saw. His shots tore into office and demolished a lookout tower. The structures burst into flame which could be seen from miles away.

Marcus rushed a guard and blasted the enemy's face with his fist. The guard crumpled immediately, sprawled unconscious on the ground. "Yeah!" he cheered.

At a nearby barracks, Erio was jarred awake by the explosion and gun shots. Nanoha rushed to his room. "Wake up! The base is under attack!"

Nanoha rushed to wake up the others while Erio tossed on a spare shirt. As he rushed down the stairs to the lobby, he was joined by Teana and Subaru, both of whom barely had time to put on anything other than the T-shirt and shorts they wore to sleep. Caro came down, still wearing a nightgown. As they exited the door, an explosion rocked the area, flattening several soldiers. The team immediately activated their weapons and rushed to meet the DATS tamers.

At the lab, Sakura's team began the infiltration. She summoned the Illusion card, which disguised her as a male general. The other members disguised themselves as her retinue of soldiers. The team walked into the lobby, where Sakura expanded the illusion to deceive the cameras into seeing her talk to the secretary. She immediately placed the secretary under a Sleep spell. The woman's eyelids started to droop, growing heavy with fatigue. She slumped onto her desk completely unconscious.

"It's downstairs," said Madison, able to feel the pulses of power the Runes gave off.

"Let's disable the security system first," recommended Shikamaru. "I don't want to rely on your illusions to carry us through."

Sakura looked at the camera watching the lobby. She made the illusion display a scene of the secretary giving the general authorization to enter. "Okay, they'll think the secretary let us in. Let's hurry."

The team walked down the aisles to the security room, which was slightly down the hall. They moved in a calm, collected manner, to appear as though they were meant to be here and avoid suspicion. When Sakura knocked on the door to the security department, a guard answered. "What is it?" he asked.

"Go to sleep," commanded Sakura, putting the guard and his buddies inside under a deep Sleep spell.

"Pull the wires so they don't know we're here," said Shikamaru as he caught the falling guard.

Naruto pulled the electrical cable which directed power into the computers and monitors. All of them went off instantly. Hinata immediately scanned the entire building with the Byakugan. She found the laboratory area, which had large amounts of equipment to perform tests on the Rune's power output. The Rune wasn't in the machine, but she noticed a safe in a nearby storage area. Peering inside, she saw the Wind Rune, but the whereabouts of the Fire Rune were unknown.

"The Fire Rune isn't here?" asked Madison.

"They might have taken it to another lab before we got here," said Rock Lee.

"We don't know where that lab is, so let's grab this one and get home before they find us," said Shikamaru.

* * *

A bit later, a small red-headed girl in red garb and a tall, noble pink-haired girl approached the lab building. The younger was known as Vita and the taller one was Signum, members of the Wolkenritter who supported Nanoha's team. Signum noticed the secretary asleep at her desk. "Hey, wake up!" said Vita as she shook the woman.

"She's not going to wake up," said Signum in resignation. "Something must be keeping her asleep."

"I have a bad feeling about this..." remarked Vita. "Let's check security."

The girls went to the door and knocked, yet no one answered. They immediately returned to the secretary's desk and used the public announcement system to call for security. When a guard responded, he unlocked and entered the room to find all of the guards asleep at their posts. Like the secretary, they would not wake up no matter how much they were disturbed. The security monitors had been unplugged and were pitch black. Once the guard restored power, the computers rebooted and the monitors flickered on.

In one of them were the Runecaptors, checking out the Wind Rune. "Did you receive any word of a general coming here to see the Rune?" asked Signum.

"No, not a word," replied the guard.

"We'd better investigate. Stay here and man the station," ordered Vita.

The Wolkenritter ran down and encountered the general and his retinue. "Stop right there," commanded Signum. "I don't recognize your face. Let's see some ID."

"What are we going to do?" asked Naruto in whispers. "They'll find us out!"

"Yes, I'm General Avalon. I've come here to move the Wind Rune to Lab 2," said Sakura.

Even though Sakura's appearance had been disguised by the illusion, the same was not true of her voice. The Wolkenritter noticed this fact right away, finding it quite suspicious that a man in his mid-fifties would sound like a high-pitched little girl. "Who are you?" asked Vita, now very suspicious of them, drawing her weapon.

"Yeah, you're not a general are you?" asked Signum, drawing hers as well. "Tell us who you are or we'll attack!"

"Uh oh!" remarked Sakura, realizing her mistake.

Naruto, desperate and out of options, immediately hurled a kunai at Signum. She instinctively tried to move away, but the blade nicked her cheek as it flew by. Vita immediately swung at Shikamaru. "Why did you attack?" asked Shikamaru as he parried Vita's hammer.

In a rage, Signum charged Naruto, forcing into him onto the defensive. "They were on to us. I had no choice!" he replied, trying hold back the sword with a little kunai.

Naruto backed off and Hinata entered the fray. She landed a blow on Signum's gut. Empowered by a burst of Chakra, the blow took the wind out of Signum and put her onto a knee. At the same time, Rock Lee got behind Vita and delivered a quick kick to the back of her head. "Let's get out of here!" cried Madison.

"Stop!" cried Signum, having recovered enough to through a bolt of energy. It hit the corner just after Madison rounded it. "Damn!" she cursed, just before slumping over in pain.

The infiltration team stormed out of the building just as the alarm sounded. They ripped through the wilderness every bit like thieves fleeing the scene of a crime. They reunited with DATS team, who were fighting the four rookie STAB members and Nanoha. Nanoha unleashed a powerful beam of magical energy at Rise Greymon. It exploded and knocked the mighty Digimon onto his side. Though ruffled, he had taken hits much worse that this.

Nanoha charged up to shoot him while he was getting up. Rise Greymon suddenly fired at her with shots of energy. The first hit and staggered Nanoha, knocking upwards into the air. The second disoriented her, breaking her preparations for an attack. She attempted to fly higher to avoid fire. Rise Greymon had recovered in this time, and score another hit which knocked her out of the sky. She hit the ground with an audible thud and blew up large clouds of dust. Rise Greymon took this time to get up and dust himself off.

"We got the Wind Rune," cried Sakura as she entered the scene.

"Yeah, let's get out of here!" said Naruto, who could feel the soldiers approaching to apprehend them.

At that moment, an explosion thundered from the distance. A pillar of flame burst upwards into the sky, parting and evaporating the clouds overhead. It was so bright that the sky was lit red despite the darkness of the night. The source was a laboratory complex, burnt to the ground along with the technicians which had worked there. The pillar abated and shrank to much smaller, but still massive size and began a path of destruction outward.

Nearby trees and vegetation started to catch fire, expanding the influence and reach of the central flame. It spread rapidly, consuming everything in its path. The central mass of flame seemed in tandem, like it was alive, the body of a massive creature of pure flame. In its wake was nothing but charcoal and ash. The mass of flame seemed to be fixated on a large group of concentrated buildings. The mass of flame was on a beeline for the heavily populated Midchildean capital, Cranagan.

Upon seeing all that transpire, the Runecaptors and STAB had dropped what they were doing to gaze out in the distance. They watched the fire spread, wondering what was happening. Firefighters rushed to the scene to quell the blaze, unloading gallons of water to extinguish the flames. From above, helicopters entered the scene bearing massive buckets of water from nearby lakes. Water mages conjured torrential rainstorms upon the blaze. As the water made contact with flame, it turned to steam and arose with a hiss.

Suddenly, tongues of flame lashed out at the firemen. This phenomenon freaked them out, causing them to drop their hoses and run. The hoses whipped around out of control, splattering water everywhere. The flames turned to the mages, forcing them to bank and make evasive turns. As soon as the mages broke formation, the flame forked with each tongue seeking one of the mages. One had gained distance until a different tongue changed targets and veered to him. The mage's clothes burst into flame as he tumbled out of the sky.

"What's going on?" asked Nanoha as she watched the firemen get burned down.

This sight was all too familiar to the Runecaptors. "It's the Fire Rune," said Sakura.

"Do you get it now?" asked Naruto vehemently. "This wouldn't have happened if you let us get the Rune!"

"Alright, we get it!" replied Nanoha. "Tell us, how do we stop that thing?"

"Get the city evacuated first," said Thomas.

Nanoha was already in the process of doing so. "Way ahead of you. Hayate, this is a Code One emergency. Get Cranagan evacuated immediately! The Fire Rune has gotten loose. It burnt down Lab Four and is headed towards the city."

Hayate looked beyond Nanoha and noticed Runecaptors standing behind her. "They're here..." she remarked, somewhat disturbed by their presence.

"Yes, we're here," replied Marcus. "We're here to stop you from making a big mistake."

"Hayate, they are the only ones who can deal with this. If they can pull it off, we can avoid civilian casualties in the city," said Nanoha. "We have to let them take the Rune."

"The brass will hate me for this, but I have no choice. I'll accept full responsibility. I feared it might come down to this sooner or later," lamented Hayate.

"Don't worry, we'll get rid of the Rune for you," assured Sakura. "You'll never have to worry about it again."

"Good," said Hayate. "I don't know who you are, but thank you for your help. Nanoha, please help them in any way you can."

"Of course," agreed Nanoha.

With the support of Nanoha's team, the Runecaptors travelled to the heart of the moving blaze. Here was where the runic power was the strongest. Despite it being partially concealed by the raging fires, the two teams could see the Rune shining from within. It was a tongue of flame which never moved or changed its form. It glowed with red light filled with intense heat and passion. The Rune's power was now quite palpable now, even to those without supernatural training.

"I can feel it," said Nanoha. "It's much stronger than it was before. This won't be easy."

Suddenly, tongues of flame lashed out at the group! "Run!" cried Caro.

The group scattered. Caro saw one coming straight for her and banked her dragon to the left to get out of the way. As soon as she was reoriented herself, the Fire Rune hurled a billowing ball of flame. Fried the dragon immediately exhaled a blast of fire. The fireball and breath collided, dissipating each other near instantly. Subaru suddenly skated by on a trail of blue and blasted wind into the flames. The Fire Rune turned its attention to her and hurled fireballs.

Subaru saw them behind over her shoulder and turned right, skating away too quickly for the attack to connect. The fireballs sailed behind and upwards past her harmlessly. When the Rune's left an opening, she fired blasts of wind down into the core of the flames. They dispersed the flames, exposing the Fire Rune. Eventually, the flames came back, covering the Fire Rune once again. It lashed out a tendril of flame and despite Subaru trying to veer leftward, it managed to singe her right bicep.

"Now Madison!" cried Kero.

Madison invoked the power of the Watery Card. The ground rumbled moments before a massive geyser burst forth from the ground. It was like a pillar rising from a hole in the ground. Water gushed everywhere, much of which turned to steam on contact with the flames. The geyser had scooped up the Fire Rune, hurling it upwards, separating it from its flames. It bobbed up helplessly up and down the peak of the geyser. With the water in their way, the flames could not shield the Rune.

Kero moved into position and activated his Rune capturing capsule. The Rune peeled from the top of the geyser, stretched ridiculously thin like taffy. Then, it went in, sucked inside like dirt into a vacuum cleaner. Within the capsule, the Rune glowed hot like the last embers of a sun. Even through the capsule, Kero could feel the warmth and passion radiate outwards. It was exhilarating to experience the very fires of creation firsthand. He dropped down and handed the capsule to Sakura.

The STAB Section 6 met with the Runecaptors for one final time. "Thank you all, Runecaptors. You have helped us avert a catastrophe. You seem like wonderful people and I wish I could have known you better, but you can not stay," said Hayate.

"We know," assured Yoshino.

"Yeah," agreed Naruto.

"Wherever you go, we hope the best for you. Good luck Runecaptors, stop the Runes from harming anyone else," said Hayate.

"We will," said Naruto.

** END OF CHAPTER**


	22. Druggies 3: Yuber Unmasked

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
****

The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

****

7 Fold Druggies, part 3: Yuber Unmasked 

"What's wrong with Robin?" asked Luffy, seeing his friend sleeping restlessly in her bed.

"I'm not sure. It's like something's eating away at her," replied Chopper. "I'm certain the mark on her hand is the cause, but none of my cures work on it. The only thing I can do is give her medicine to relieve the pain."

"Vivi, can you tell us anything more about this mark?" asked Zolo.

"My men found it out in the desert on a rock. It gave them a very bad feeling so we locked it up in the vault for monitoring. We don't know what it is," said Vivi.

"I have a feeling those creatures and this mark are connected somehow," said Nami, before sighing. "We're not going to figure it out now. We should take a rest."

Since the Straw Hats had no idea what was affecting Robin, they decided to relax and come back later with a fresh disposition. Luffy, being his usual self, decided to drop over to the kitchen to have a snack. Zolo went part of the way with him there, before splitting off to go to the palace grounds. A large group of people, two children and five teens, approached the palace's front gate. Zolo noticed them after taking a glance over at the gate. The children gave him a sense of familiarity, which compelled him to go over and check the out the situation.

"What's the problem?" asked Zolo as he approached to investigate.

"These kids want to enter the palace. We have orders not to let anyone in unless they have official business," replied the guard.

"Have we met?" asked Zolo of the newcomers.

"I think so," replied the girl, Meilin. "Yeah, you fought with us in Valiance, didn't you?"

"Ah, I remember now," remarked Zolo. "I'll talk to the princess."

Zolo left, but moments later, a messenger returned to address the guards. The guards immediately let the group in, with the messenger leading the group to Vivi's throne room, where Zolo was waiting for them with the princess. "So these people fought beside you during the war?" asked Vivi.

"I haven't met the other five, but the two kids are powerful magicians. They might know something that could help us cure Robin," replied Zolo.

"Robin?" asked Meilin.

"Yeah, she came down with a strange sickness that our doctor can't cure," said Zolo. "We were wondering if you might be able to help her."

Zolo led Meilin and Shaoran to the infirmary where Chopper was tending to Robin. Meilin looked her over and found the Rune on her hand. "So is this the source of her illness?" asked Meilin.

"Yeah, it's like the thing is eating away at her," replied Chopper.

"Okay, I can try to remove it," said Meilin. She produced a capsule and held it to the Rune. It peeled off and became trapped safely inside. "That should do it. Let Orihime tend to her and she should be back to normal in no time."

Meilin nodded to Shaoran, who promptly left and fetched the girl to do her job. "I'll take good care of your friend," said Orihime. She immediately sat on a stool beside her and concentrated the shield of healing upon Robin.

"Thank you," said Zolo. "...But just what was that mark on her hand?"

"It's called the Rune of Punishment," replied Meilin.

"Rune of Punishment?" asked Zolo, somewhat disturbed by its name.

"Yep, it's one of a set of 27," replied Meilin. "It's very powerful, but very dangerous. It drains the life from the user to power itself."

Zolo pondered back to when he first saw the Rune in the Alabaster vault. He was pinned down by the monster, but in the corner of his eye, he saw Robin unleash a dark power. The dark power rushed all over the vault and annihilated all of the creatures. After that incident, she promptly fell ill. "Is that so? I'm glad you got rid of that thing, but what will you do with it now?"

"We'll seal it away, just like the others. It's too dangerous to leave lying around here," said Meilin.

"Hey, it's you guys!" said Luffy as he burst in. "Long time no see!"

"Oh hi Luffy, nice to see you," said Meilin. "I just got rid of what was making Robin sick. She'll get better soon."

"You did? Thank you, thank you so much!" said Luffy.

While Meilin spoke with the Straw Hats, Shaoran ducked out to receive a message from Clow Reed. He returned quite quickly. "Meilin, Master Reed told me he has found another Rune. It's the Arbor Rune. It's far northeast of the palace."

"Okay, let's go," said Meilin.

"Wait," said Shaoran. "He told us not to capture it immediately. He just wants us to take pictures of the area for now."

"Hmm, did you bring a camera?"

"Don't worry, he sent me one for this mission. Let's go," said Shaoran.

* * *

The Cardcaptors descended at the edge of a lush green region far to the northeast of the desert kingdom of Alabaster. It was a fairly remote location, far from any villages and near a mountain range. At the heart of the greenery was a spring which nourished the local vegetation with water. It was the only thing keeping the ravages of the desert from swallowing up this oasis. The Cardcaptors could feel a strong source of magical power emanating from a section of the oasis further ahead.

There, a set of crops had been planted row by row, far too perfectly straight to be a natural occurrence. The Cardcaptors could make out people working in these fields, but they were almost like ants when seen from so high up. The Cardcaptors descended somewhere safe and snuck over to spy on the farmers. Interspersed with the farmers were guards in mottled green camo. The guards patrolled the farm and were armed with assault rifles, something not commonly found in Great Blue.

"Look at all those guards. What kind of farm could be so important that its needs so many guards?" asked Meilin.

"Look, over at the big tree there," said Shaoran, pointing to a single large tree growing from a patch of dirt at the heart of the fields. On it was an emblem like the clubs symbol from poker cards, except that it was green. This emblem was the Arbor Rune, the one which governed growth and plants. "They must be using the Rune to grow these things. I'm taking the pictures for Master Reed."

Shaoran quietly snapped pictures of everything; the armed guards, the farmers, the crops, the buildings, and the Rune. Once they were done, they snuck away and flew back to the palace. Shaoran gave the others a look at the photos. "These are marijuana plants," remarked Uryu upon looking at a photo of the crops.

"Uryu's right. You've uncovered a drug operation," observed Chad.

"...And they're using the Rune to do it," said Shaoran, putting all the evidence together.

"Now I understand why Master Reed wanted us to take the pictures," remarked Meilin. "Since a Rune is involved, he must suspect they are members of the 7 Fold gang."

"Well then, let's go over there and shut the place down!" said Ichigo.

"Calm down, don't be so hasty!" scolded Rukia.

"Master Reed only told us to get these photos. He specifically told us not to go after the Rune yet. In any case, we'll give him the photos. I'm sure he has a very special plan in mind," said Shaoran.

The duo opened a gate back to Clow Reed's translation tent. They handed him the photos before returning to Vivi's palace to await their next orders. In the meantime, Master Reed passed copies of these photos back to Iroh, who in turn, circulated new copies to the police of Cyberia. However, Iroh never passed these photos to a certain member of the Runecaptors. That very person opened the door to Iroh's office to confront him about this snubbing.

"What's the meaning of this?" asked Aramaki, showing Iroh the photos. "The 7 Fold Gang is our case! Why was I not informed?"

"Mr. Aramaki," addressed Iroh. "Must I remind you that one of your men is sitting in our prison for espionage? We can not allow you to pursue this case until we are certain Section 9 is clear."

"Even if Batou is guilty, which I don't believe for a moment, you've already caught the spy."

"Do we have to go through this again? What I told you earlier still stands. Until you can provide evidence as to who might have hacked Batou, we must keep Section 9 out of the investigation. If you have nothing new to add, please leave," said Iroh.

"This isn't over," said Aramaki. He turned around and left Iroh's office.

The day after, a knocking came at his door late in the morning. "Open up!" said the knocker.

Aramaki opened the door and found a Juraian soldier at the door. Behind that soldier was a half dozen more like him, all of whom were led by Zuko, Iroh's nephew. "What's is going on?" asked Aramaki.

"You are under arrest for espionage," announced Zuko. "We know you are Yuber."

* * *

Back at the palace throne room, Shaoran and Meilin spoke with their team and the Straw Hats. "Clow Reed has told us that we'll be having some police from Cyberia joining us," informed Shaoran. "Are you going to help too?"

"Of course," replied Vivi. "I will not allow them to grow such disgusting things in my kingdom. I'll leave this to you and Luffy's crew."

"These monsters hurt our friend and now they're using another friend's land to make poison. We'll make them pay!" said Luffy. "Let's go."

Shaoran immediately conjured a portal to the closest hidden location near the oasis. The Cyberian officers fanned out around the oasis and awaited instructions. When Shaoran gave the signal, the officers stormed the oasis. "You are under arrest! Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air!" cried an officer.

The drug cartel didn't comply. Instead, it fired at the officers, who scrambled for cover and returned fire. For several seconds, shots went back and forth between the two sides. Nearly five minutes into the shoot out, several drug runners downed officers on the eastern side. They had suddenly appeared from the south, catching the officers off guard and trapping them between two forces in the south and west. The officers were stunned by how effectively the 7 Fold gang was able to outflank them.

From a distant command centre, the Strat Hats and Runecaptors heard the officers' radio transmissions. "They jumped us from the south!" cried one officer over the gunshots.

"These guys aren't just any old drug dealers. They're pros, be careful," remarked another of the officers.

"AHHHHHH!" screamed an officer in the background of another radio transmission. The radio went into static as shots rang out and an inhuman snarl resounded.

"We'd better help them," recommended Ichigo.

The heroes travelled to the battle zone. As the fighting continued, one of the moving drug dealers suddenly burst into flame, courtesy of the Firey Card's magic. Meilin suddenly landed within their ranks. As they turned to aim at her, she moved away so quickly that they couldn't track her with any accuracy. As she passed by, she fired a trio of Shot Card bolts, felling three more men. Another noticed her, but Meilin was already leaping over his head. On landing, she forced down the drug dealer with a kick to the back of the knee and a well-placed punch to the back of the head.

Shaoran spotted a 7 Sins demon and hurled lightning from his fingertips. The creature convulsed in agony before collapsing with electricity still sparking along its body. A trio of fighters suddenly entered the battle, but they did not look like the other drug runners. They looked more like teenaged girls, but had vacant expressions on their faces and the Sovereign Rune marked on their foreheads. The Runecaptors and Straw Hats entered into a stand off with the girls.

One was a brunette armed with a naginata. She rode on the head of a violet, mechanical hydra which dripped silvery acid from the mouths of its many heads. The second was the oldest of the three, in her twenties rather than her teens. She was a red head armed with a double-bladed axe and rode on a mechanical lion-armadillo hybrid. The last was a buxom brunette with gold rings around her wrists and ankles. She hovered near a gigantic mechanical dragon.

The red head leapt at Zolo and slashed with her axe. The swordsman parried, locking weapons together and started a tug-o'-war with his foe. "These girls don't look like drug runners. Who are they?" he asked.

The hydra snapped at Ichigo, who flickered away. "No idea, but I'm not going to let them take us out without a fight!" he replied.

The dragon exhaled fire at Meilin, who leapt out of the path even as the dragon torqued its body to correct its aim. Meilin conjured a fireball overhead and dropped it on the dragon. The attack exploded on contact with such power that it forced the girl to separate from her dragon. The buxom girl charged at Meilin, spraying flames from her bracelets. "She is being controlled by a Rune, I'll try to remove it. Cover me!"

Rukia, closest to Meilin, intervened in the battle. She swung at the buxom girl, who backpedalled and broke off her attack on Meilin. The buxom girl sprayed fire, from which Rukia flickered away. With her free hand, she readied a violet kido spell and unleashed it. The buxom girl banked and evaded the ball of spiritual energy. Rukia held her sword before her and called upon its power. With single slash of Shirayuki, she froze a column of ice upwards, catching the girl in the foot. Immobile and helpless, Rukia conjured another column, encasing her in ice. Meilin held a capsule to the girl's head and sucked the sliver inside.

Ichigo dodged a thrust. The naginata girl swung again, managing to graze him in the arm. She suddenly veered the blade back and swung, catching him across the chest as he tried to backpedal to safety. The blade came back in a stabbing motion, but Ichigo parried. Suddenly, Luffy's arms extended, catching her in the back. Ichigo wound up and swung for the fences. The flat of his blade nailed her hard in the face, knocking her unconscious. Shaoran approached, quickly producing a capsule which trapped the Sovereign sliver inside.

Zolo blindsided the red-head with a swift kick, causing her to loose her footing and fall off her mount. Before hitting the ground, she managed to right herself and land on her feet. Zolo dropped down and the two locked weapons. She forced herself past the stalemate and swung for his head, but only managed to cut a few hairs as he tilted away. She backed up and swung for his neck, but Zolo parried and the two locked weapons. He began to twist the axe around and eventually wrenched it out of her hands. With a quick backhand to the chin, Zolo subdued her.

The Cyberian police and the Runecaptors quickly secured the drug growing operation. Shaoran quickly trapped the Arbor Rune before going to check up on the captured girls. The three were lying on cots in a makeshift infirmary just at the edge of the fields. "Who are they?" Shaoran asked.

"I don't know, but I'm hoping they'll wake up soon so we can ask them," said Rukia. "Orihime's working on it."

"Ow," groaned the buxom girl, whose eyes were completely unfocused. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Great Blue," replied Orihime. "We're just outside a marijuana farm."

"Marijuana farm? How did I get here? Who are you?" asked the girl.

"I'm Orihime Inoue," replied Orihime. "I'm from the Runecaptors. We fight against the Runes, magical symbols which control people's minds. The Juraian Emperor used one to control you and made you attack us."

"Yeah, I'm starting to remember. I'm Mai Tokiha," replied the buxom girl. "The last thing I remember was the Juraian Emperor coming to attack my home town with his ship. We went to fight him and... He beat us. Everything after that is a blur."

She sat up and rubbed her head. She seemed very weary, both from the mental domination of the Rune and from being rendered unconscious by the Runecaptors and Straw Hats. "You look tired. We'll talk later. Get some rest," Orihime recommended.

When Orihime returned later, she questioned Mai further as well as the other girls. She learned that the red-head was Midori Sugiura and the naginata girl was Shizuru Fujino. All three of them were Himes, girls with the special power to create a special weapon and a monster from photons. They fought and lost to Emperor Azusa, who proceeded to enslave them with the Sovereign Rune. Somehow they had been sent here, to protect the marijuana farm.

"So you don't remember anything?" asked Orihime.

"No, it's all a blur. I don't know what happened after he got us and the other girls. I'm worried about them," said Midori.

"If you're fighting Azusa, then I'll join you," offered Shizuru. "He has my beloved and I want to get her back."

* * *

Aramaki suddenly summoned a pair of swords! With speed untypical of such an old man, he zipped to each of the arresting officers and cut them down, one after the other. When all of them were down, he immediately rushed Zuko, who narrowly avoided the same fate. He threw several more slashes to the body and head, but Zuko dodged as he backpedalled to gain distance and regain his composure. Aramaki's, or rather Yuber's, blade came in from the left and Zuko somersaulted over.

After gaining enough distance, Zuko punched fireballs over to his foe. Yuber sliced through them, snuffing out the flames in the process. He immediately charged electricity between his blades and hurled it as ball lightning. Zuko dove away, causing the projectile to overshoot and hit an unoccupied house behind him. Yuber charged another blast and released it as a bolt of lightning. Zuko narrowly got out of its path and it continued on to hit another house.

Zuko hurled a ball of fire, baiting Yuber into blocking high. He immediately punted a second down low, singing the enemy's knee. Having staggered the enemy, Zuko advanced and hurled dual fireballs. Yuber parried with his sword and dashed forward. Zuko ducked, but Yuber suddenly backed off and charged electricity. Unable to get away in time, Zuko covered up was staggered by electrically induced convulsions. He willed himself to continue standing as he channelled the lightning through his arm. He pushed the electricity to the very pit of his stomach and out through the other hand.

It caught Yuber with full force, causing him to stumble back and fall to a single knee. "Enough! Will you surrender or do I have to pound it out of you?" asked Zuko irately.

"You are a pest. I've wasted enough time with you, insect!" growled Yuber.

Yuber's Sevenfold Rune emanated a foul black glow. A sphere of darkness surrounded Zuko and collapsed on him. The sheer power of the darkness devoured every last ounce of strength in him. Zuko fell to one knee. "Zuko!" cried a familiar voice. It belonged to Aang.

Suddenly, masses of rocks appeared around Yuber. They closed around the demonic swordsman, trapping him within as Katara extracted Zuko from danger. Yuber smashed through the rocks with the Sevenfold Rune's dark energy and hurled a dark bolt at Toph. She went flying to the ground, knocked out of the fight. He suddenly sensed a presence and turned around in time to parry a slash. Sokka freed his blade and went for the face, only to be parried again. Yuber lunged, but his foe quickly parried and deflected the blade. Yuber closed and suddenly kicked Sokka to the ground.

"Are you okay?" asked Katara as she tended to Zuko's wounds.

"I will be," he replied. "You have to stop that man. He's a spy for the enemy."

"We will," assured Katara.

Yuber struck Aang, Sokka, and Toph with blasts of lightning as they came in for offence. All three were sprawled on the ground. He noticed Katara and immediately hurled lightning at her. The electricity surged throughout her body, wracking her with agony. "No!" cried Zuko as he bolted upright.

Before Yuber could send another, he shoved Katara out of the way and took the lightning himself. Katara crumpled to the ground. Yuber continued to apply more power as Zuko winced in agony. Even in such pain, he found the willpower to take the lightning on the left hand. Once again, he funnelled the electricity down to his stomach and with his right, expelled the electricity back at Yuber. The spy took the hit full brunt, but used everything he had to endure. Even though Zuko was redirecting the lightning back, Yuber continued to turn up the juice, hoping to overpower him.

Katara suddenly sprang to life and lashed water at him. The water was the final straw, acting as a conductor for his own lightning. Yuber convulsed painfully, paralysed by the amplified power. When he could take no more, he collapsed. Katara let out a deep breath, relieved from the anxiety of the battle. "We did it," she said, before slumping back on the ground from fatigue.

** END OF CHAPTER**

** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Arbor Rune **  
Domain: Plants, Rejuvenation, Nature  
Duality: Growth vs. Responsibility  
Appearance: Green club (poker suit)  
Powers: grow plants, healing

Description:  
This vital Rune governs plant life and growth. Its power lets the bearer grow any type of plant he or she can imagine. Its power can also heal others using the fecund power of nature. However, growth must be tempered with responsibility, otherwise, it was be continue unchecked and become cancerous and destroy its environment.


	23. Paradox 1: Highway Robbery

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
****

The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

****

Paradox Rebuffed, part 1: Highway Robbery 

An attractive woman made her way to the Harmonian Palace situated at the heart of Crystal Valley city. The woman was well dressed and professional in a brown business suit. The attractive woman had long brown hair which went down to her shoulder. She walked with a noble posture, but at the same time, seemed quite mysterious. The woman showed an ID card to the guards at the gate. "Layla MacKenzie... Okay, please enter," directed the guard.

Layla moved towards the palace and asked for Clow Reed at the front desk. A guard came over and escorted her to the meeting room where the master magician was speaking with Aeka, Iroh, and Aramaki. "Hi Layla, nice of you to drop by on such short notice," addressed Reed.

"No problem Master Reed," dismissed Layla. "I'm not missing anything important, just work at the shrine. The other priests and maidens can cover for me."

"Thanks for your help," said Reed. "Now that she has come to replace me, I can begin my mission."

"Of course," said Iroh. "Good luck Master Reed."

Reed stepped into a gate and found himself standing in the middle of the field where he had seen the Rune in his vision. The area was vacant and the men long gone. He summoned the Return card and hurled his spirit a few days in the past, to the time when the men swarmed the area. He was like a ghost from the future, unable to be seen by the men. In the distance, soldiers patrolled to keep intruders out. Other agents, clad in hazmat suits, carefully sucked the Paradox Rune into a box which kept it contained within electromagnetic fields.

As the men drove away with the Rune in a truck, Reed followed them by flying through the air. The men drove into towards what appeared to be a Japanese city, but one he was unfamiliar with. There was a surprisingly large number of signs written in English, in particular, the British variant of English. One particular sign indicated that the city was "Ashford City," an interestingly non-Japanese name for such a place. However, as he left the area of the field, his magic's connection to his vision started to weaken. He began to fade and eventually returned to the present.

Clow Reed headed in the direction where the truck had travelled. Along the way, he noticed a military base he had missed seeing with his focus taken by the truck. In this base was the usual buildings, but it had a set of robots. They weren't mobile suits from the Eras, as they were of a different design. However, he could detect a faint, but still noticeable trace of supernatural power upon the robot. As he focused on that trace, he saw a vision of the Paradox Rune.

Reed was stunned by the implications of this revelation. The people of this world had already begun to cut slivers from the Rune so quickly after discovering it. Was it this act that he had sensed before coming here? Such an act would certainly have activated the Rune. Now, the people were grafting Contradiction Rune slivers onto their military machines, using it to bypass Paradox and incorporate supernatural powers and non-native technologies to their own.

This was very bad. Paradox existed to make sure such an event didn't occur. Powers from different worlds were not meant to be combined like this. They conflicted with each other and it was only the Rune that prevented a disaster from occurring. Reed knew he had to find the Rune, and soon, before the people became too dependent on it. He reached out with supernatural senses and followed the sliver's connection to its source. The trace led him deeper into the town and toward a single portal device, made possible only by the Rune's power.

Following the trail into that portal, he came upon an office building in the suburbs of a Chinese city. The trail led deep under the ground, to a hidden section not normally available to the public. It was like a secret base there, with several agents milling about. Security was very tight and the hallways were constantly monitored by cameras and patrolling guards. The Rune was in the deepest part of this complex deep in the ground. Though Clow Reed could easily walk in and demolish the place, a more subtle strategy over the long term was the better route.

* * *

Elsewhere, a little pink-haired girl walked down the street, licking an ice cream cone. The Chinese girl, Anita, could not fathom how quickly things had changed in Hong Kong. It was the sudden revelation of other worlds, other universes, that changed the political landscape of her world, Spion. It was a shock for those in power to realize the existence of other worlds. Not only that, those other worlds were also trying to form alliances, as the result of the activities of an intra-world terrorist group known as Omnipotence.

Spion had made contact with Britannia, once Britannian technology became capable of breaching dimensional barriers. Ever since, people from the other world have been showing up as tourists. Then, the robots came, first as weapons of the military, then as police and industrial equipment. In fact, the British Library had thrown in their lot in with the strangers, going public and releasing what remained of the vast knowledge of their late leader, the Gentleman, on the Internet. Such a development triggered changes in the population of Spion.

Unlike normal girls, Anita was a Papermaster. She could control and reshape paper, preferring to use them as blades. Special powers were quite familiar to her, since she and her sisters were all Papermasters. After coming into contact with Gentleman's knowledge, more people started to exhibit unique powers, some becoming Papermasters like herself. Whatever the power was, the Gentleman's knowledge must have triggered something latent within them. As a result, there have been more incidents of crime involving the use of these superhuman powers, some of which were solved by Anita and her sisters.

Anita and her sisters, Maggie, and Michelle, were known as the "Paper Sisters" and operated the Three Sisters Detective Agency. Secondary members included the author Nenene Sumiregawa, who handled paperwork when not writing, and Yomiko Readman, Nenene's Papermaster friend. Anita wondered if her sisters and friends had found any new jobs. In this age, there was heavy demand for organizations like hers. They had no lack of jobs and thus money to spare.

Anita walked into the local cafe, where the agency normally met with prospective clients. At a side booth, a blonde and an unkempt Chinese woman were seated there. They were Michelle and Maggie, her sisters. They were talking to a man, likely a potential client. The man wore had black hair tied back in a pony tail and wore a pair of glasses and a fedora. They were in the middle of a negotiation, which Anita interrupted as she approached.

"Oh hi Anita, pull up a seat," offered Michelle. "So Mr. Remington, what is this item you want us to find?"

"Here, I have a picture of it right here," said the man known as Remington. He produced a hand drawn picture of a red Penrose Square. "This object is known as the Contradiction Rune or the Paradox Rune. It is a power source which enables the manufacture of Knightmare Frame units for Spion. Without it, these robots simply can't function."

"You want us to steal it for you?" asked Michelle.

"You catch on quick," remarked Remington. "We suspect that the British Library is holding the item in one of its compounds in the Hong Kong suburbs." Remington showed Michelle a picture of an office building. "The Rune is being kept in an underground compound within this building. My employers are willing to pay top dollar to ensure the safe retrieval of the item. You'll be paid US $1,000,000 for this job, half of which will be given upfront with the rest upon successful delivery of the item."

"Of course," remarked Michelle, as she pocketed the picture. "We can begin right away."

"Good, I'll swing by your office later in the day with the first half of the money. See you later," said Remington.

* * *

Later on in the day, a half-Japanese, half-British woman walked down to the local bookstore. She was a bookish woman, one who preferred intellectual pursuits rather than more physical activities like sports. She was also a conservative, introverted woman, who wore a frumpy vest and generally kept herself covered up rather than expose herself for more attention. Nevertheless, she was still attractive in her own "smart girl" way.

Upon entering the store, she approached the owner. "Hello Ms. Readman, is there something you need?" asked the owner

"Yes, have the English translations of 'History of Harmonia' come in yet?" asked the woman, Yomiko Readman.

"Why yes, it came in just last night," replied the owner.

"Great, I'd like a copy of each book in the series," said Yomiko. The owner fetched the product, fresh out of the box, and bagged a set for her upon payment.

She returned to her apartment where she was greeted at the door by an attractive girl who was her longtime friend, Nancy Makuhari. "Hi Yomiko, come in," greeted Nancy.

"Hi Yomiko, did you get any new books?" asked Michelle.

"Yes, I just got the English translations of the 'History of Harmonia' by Clow Reed," announced Yomiko. "The Harmonian civilization once existed in what is now the No-Man's-Land. An archaeologist translated them and compiled them into this book."

"Clow Reed?" asked Michelle.

"Yes," replied Yomiko. "It says here he's a wizard from Tarota who studied archaeology and different schools of magic in the worlds. He compiled the translations while working on a dig in Crystal Valley of Harmonia. There's a picture of him here too."

Michelle looked over at the picture of Clow Reed in the biography. "Wow, he's hot!" remarked the younger Papermaster.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Michelle answered and saw her client, Remington, at the other side. She invited him in, during which he placed a briefcase with his deposit on the coffee table. Michelle checked the money and found it legitimate. "Okay, there should be no problems now. Please find that item as soon as possible," urged Remington.

"Don't worry Mr. Remington. It will be taken care of," said Michelle.

After Remington left, the Paper Sisters and their friends began to gather intelligence on the building mentioned by Remington. They brought in their old friend, Drake Anderson, for some help and information. The blond, hardened soldier sat on before the coffee table and began his briefing. "My sources tell me that there is indeed a British Library branch operating in that building. Yes, the Rune is being kept there. In fact, that's where they get runic material to make Knightmare Frames."

"Remington told me that if that Rune was removed, the Knightmare Frames would stop operating," said Maggie.

"Yes, I heard that too," said Drake. "What he didn't tell you was why that was the case. Without that Rune, Knightmare Frames start to become unstable, as though it was incompatible with itself and pilots from Spion."

"I always thought that any old person could drive those robots," remarked Anita.

"No," replied Drake. "For starters, there have been documented cases of strange malfunctions and unexplained fires when people from Spion started to pilot them. Once they started applying the Rune to it, all those incidents stopped happening."

"Where did you find this out?" asked Yomiko.

"From the same source. He told me that this Rune operated by altering physical and scientific laws. Some early experiments resulted in mutated test subjects which ran amok before being put down," replied Drake. "...And yes, it really is that dangerous. He's concerned about what long term effects would result from using the Rune so extensively, since there is little documentation on it."

"That's reckless!" said Anita.

"Yes, that's probably why my source feels the way he does," observed Drake. "That's probably why he's telling me this." The Paper Sisters and friends continued their strategy discussion with Drake, formulating a plan of attack against the British Library. Drake received a cell phone call. "Is that so? Uhuh... Perfect!" Drake hung up and turned to his friends. "I just learned that they're going to transfer the Rune out of that facility tomorrow night. They'll be taking the highway north of the skyscraper. We can set up an ambush there and steal the Rune then."

* * *

The following night, men in jumpsuits from the British Library's office loading docks moved crates into the back of a heavily secured, armoured truck. One by one, small crates and large cardboard boxes filled the vehicle. One of the men loaded a small metal box, similar in size to those used to transport pets overseas. The metal box emitted the extremely faint hum of working electronics. Once the truck was loaded, the truck pulled out of the lot with an escort of armed guards in cars.

For several minutes, their journey down the night highways of Hong Kong went by uneventfully. They entered a forested area, approaching Maggie, who was hidden by some trees. "The convoy's coming, get ready," she warned the others over radio.

A few kilometres down the road, Drake stood ready on the trigger for some bombs. Once the truck entered the designated area, Drake detonated several hidden bombs. The bombs burst out in deafening explosions, lighting the forest ablaze in orange light. One of the humvees toppled over, hurled by the sheer force of an explosion. The driver jammed on the brakes for the Rune-carrying truck. Yet, despite his valiant attempt, his vehicle couldn't stop in time to miss hitting a downed humvee.

Those soldiers who escaped the explosions took cover behind wreckage and searched for the enemy. Yomiko hurled sheets of paper at them, cocooning them like human caterpillars. The soldiers spotted her and opened fire. Their guns went ablaze as they spewed countless bullets. Anita suddenly pounced into their midst and sliced their guns with a single card. As one turned to fight her, she pounced onto the soldier's head and kicked off onto another. She was too fast for them to track and she eventually knocked out the entire squad.

Junior suddenly rose from the ground like a ghost, right behind the backs of other firing soldiers. With a quick chop, he knocked out one of them. The others noticed his presence and tried to re-aim, but their shots went straight through his body. He sank into the ground and reappeared behind a few moments later, knocking out another soldier. He repeated these attacks until he had knocked out every man and woman firing at the Paper Sisters.

The driver of the Rune truck backed away from the humvee and drove around in an attempt to flee the area. However, Michelle spotted its escape attempt and sent a paper arrow into its right rear tire. The truck sprung a flat and lost speed. The driver struggled to maintain his vehicle's heading despite the damage done to it. Michelle sent another arrow into the remaining tire, causing the driver to lose control and crash into a tree just ahead. Maggie, who had just caught up to the sisters, descended on the back of a giant paper bird.

While smaller versions of her bird harassed the driver and passenger, she created a gorilla to pry open the rear doors. She rummaged through the entire contents of the truck, but there was resembling the Rune inside. Yomiko came by to check on her. "What's taking so long? Haven't you found it yet?" she asked.

"No, this truck was a decoy," said Maggie.

"A decoy?" asked Yomiko in disbelief. "Then where's the real one?"

Even after searching the rest of the convoy, they found nothing. The entire convoy was a decoy designed to divert the attention of any thieves from the real one, which had slipped away unnoticed. At the end of their first week on the case, Remington met with them to receive an update. "Have you found it yet?" asked Remington.

"Not yet," replied Michelle. "Our first lead turned out to be a decoy. We are working our connections to find out where it is. Don't worry Mr. Remington. We'll have the Rune for you in no time."

"See that you do. It is vitally important that my group acquires it as soon as possible," stated Remington.

** END OF CHAPTER**

** SPOTLIGHT: Spion (Read or Die) **

Politics/Demographics:  
Spion, as a world, had been dominated by a British Empire which fell much later than the one in the Real World. As a result of it lasting that much longer, until modern times, many of the world's countries had been influenced by British culture and the British way of governing. Lately, Spion is moving to form an alliance and political bloc with Britannia, to obtain a better position from which to face the other anime worlds.

Characters/VIPs:  
Yomiko Readman and the Paper Sisters Michelle, Maggie, and Anita are Papermasters. Yomiko once worked as an agent of the British Empire's intelligence division, the British Library, while the Paper Sisters worked for its Chinese counterpart, Dokusensha. Drake Anderson, an ex-member of American special forces, has deep ties to Yomiko and the Paper Sisters. In particular, he has done some missions with Yomiko during her tenure in the British Library.

Powers:  
While Spion is technologically comparable to the Real World, it also has superhero-like psionics users in it. These powers can vary widely, but are usually very specific in what they can do. One of the major abilities is Papermastery, which allows the user to move and harden paper.

** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Paradox Rune **  
Domain: Paradox, Contradiction, Balance  
Duality: Stability versus Inconsistency  
Appearance: Red Penrose square  
Powers: negates the effects of Paradox

Description:  
Also known as the Contradiction Rune, this unique Rune governs the stability of the physical and metaphysical within a given world. Through Paradox, it ensures reliability of the special powers and smooths out any oddities and hiccoughs that appear from the use of special powers or technology beyond the cutting edge. Despite Paradox having the role of stabilizer, Paradox backlashes themselves can be very wild, random, and contrary to what would be perceived as "normal."


	24. Circle 1: A Simple Misunderstanding

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
****

The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

****

The Circle Broken, part 1: A Simple Misunderstanding 

Night fell upon the long lost city of Crystal Valley. With the passing of ages, it had been buried beneath countless feet of earth, but Runecaptor archaeologists had dug it out to learn what secrets it had hid. Now, it was the central base for the Runecaptors' mission to find the Runes. In the darkness, the only light came from countless stars in the sky. Chirping crickets resounded in the dark, the only thing that could be heard in an otherwise still and silent land. Everyone had gone to bed for the night, save for the night watch charged with protecting the city.

In the wilderness, figures in black darted through the woods, as fast their feet could carry them. The figures were covered in head to toe in concealing garb. They carried small, easily concealed weapons hidden in pockets on their persons. They were the elusive spies and assassins known as the ninja. They moved with a singleness of purpose, without any hesitation. The figures stopped at a set of trees near a cliff overlooking the sprawling city.

Crystal Valley stretched for miles out before them. The ancient city was large even for its time, being the capital of the greatest empire in the era. Their gaze focused on the great palace of the Harmonian royal family, which housed Emperor Hikusaak's secrets and the Runes themselves. "Saemon, you know what to do?" asked a female ninja.

"Yes sister," replied the ninja named Saemon. "Just make sure to keep me covered."

The group advanced over rooftops of the buildings of the city. Since only the Runecaptors and Empress Faction soldiers were here, most houses were unoccupied. Nevertheless, they made sure not to make any noise or be noticed. They eventually took positions on a rooftop outside of the fence which ran along the perimeter of the palace. The chain link fence was far too high to leap over from the ground while the rooftop was too far away to make such a jump. Its top was wrapped in barbed wire, making the option of climbing up to the other side an unwise decision.

Rather than go in those ways, they had a more clever method of entry. Safely out of sight, Saemon pressed his face into a clay mould as part of a secret ninja technique. His face took on the characteristics of a random Chinese archaeologist in his forties. His hairline turned grey and started to bald. The ninja completed the disguise by putting on some glasses, rugged clothing, and pinning a matching photo ID card to his jacket. His face and the photo matched so perfectly that no one would be the wiser. While his team waited in a secluded area, Saemon approached the gate.

"Hello, sorry to bother you so late, but I left a valuable book back in the palace. I need to fetch it for Master Reed as soon as possible," said Saemon, repeating the story he was instructed to tell the guards.

The guards examined his card, which checked out properly. One of the guards opened the gate for Saemon. "Go right ahead, Mr. Wong," instructed the guard.

Saemon smiled to the guards and continued on his way. He passed through the entrance of the palace and traversed the halls down to the basement. When he reached the vault, Saemon turned a set of dials to enter a combination. The door popped open, revealing the fortified metal interior and the Runes kept within. He uncompressed a duffel bag and began to toss Runes into it. Due to the size of the filled capsules, he could only move a few at a time without risking dropping any of them and possibly alarming guards.

Nevertheless, a patrolling guard wandered over and noticed the Rune vault open. "Hey, who are you?" asked the guard as he reached for a gun and his radio. "Taro, this is Tenjo, we've..."

Saemon quickly hurled a shuriken right into the guard's neck. The blades slashed open the man's throat, splattering blood all over and cutting off his speech. "Tenjo? What happened? Are you there?" asked a supervisor over the radio.

Saemon heard that broadcast, dropped what he was doing, and quickly sealed the bag. With his cover blown, a guard dead, and security alerted, he could not afford to waste time. The man at the other end of the radio would send more men to investigate Tenjo's lack of response and ultimately find him. Saemon quickly made his way out of the vault and towards the nearest exit. A guard came by to the check on the vault and found his counterpart lying on the ground in a pool of blood. He quickly radioed the supervisor, who sounded an alarm klaxon.

As Saemon burst out of a window, guards spotted him and pulled their guns. Saemon dove behind the remains of a column, but a stray bullet hit his bag, tearing a hole across it. His ninja team hurled shuriken at them, quickly dispatching those men. Saemon joined up with the ninja and fled into the wilderness. As he fled, the hole in the sack widened from the stress of evading the pursuers. The encapsulated Earth Rune felt out and rolled along the ground, followed by the Moon Rune, the Gate Rune, and the Tome Rune. Though Saemon wanted to, he had no time to go back and retrieve them.

The ninja could hear some light whirring coming further away, which came from Runecaptor vehicles hot in pursuit. Their spot lights flooded the area, scanning around until one shined on a ninja. As the hover bike closed in, the ninja fled into the trees. A team mate tossed a shuriken which severed a hidden rope. It released a giant log which swung head-on into the hover bike's rider. The sheer force knocked off the rider him into his passenger and sending both men on a one way trip to the ground. The following hover bikes banked away to avoid crashing into the log.

This fumble cost them much time in pursuing the ninja. The bikes split up into pairs to cover more ground, but had ultimately lost their prey. Later on during the following day, the Runecaptors detected a large explosion somewhere in the hills near the edge of the forest. When they sent men to investigate, they found the wreckage of a ring-like portal device there, which had been destroyed as a result of the explosion. The console's memory banks had been melted down into goo, rendered useless as a means to trace the robbers.

* * *

After the incident last night, the Runecaptor leadership had convened an emergency meeting the following morning. "Someone had broken into the Rune vault last night," informed Clow Reed. "It seems that the thief was a member of the Secessionists. He had disguised himself as an archaeologist and used a forged ID card to gain access to the vault. He is believed to be one of the ninja spotted with Yosho during Tory's mission in Edo."

"This isn't good. Now that he has stolen those Runes, this puts his Rune count up to six. Even with four more Runes, he has become more dangerous than ever," remarked Aeka. "We need to put more effort on him."

"Yes, our position may have been weakened, but I have a plan that will turn the situation back in our favour," informed Iroh. "Once it is put into motion, I recommend we remove Yosho from the war. We'll need every man and woman we have available to pull this off."

Clow Reed suddenly felt a great surge of power like a nuclear explosion going off. It was a Rune, awakening somewhere far away in the vast cosmos of the Anime Worlds. This Rune seemed to alter and warp reality itself by merely existing, yet paradoxically, also stabilized it and strengthened its foundations. This Rune, the Contradiction or Paradox Rune, was one of the most dangerous ones of all. If it was misused, it could destabilize large sections of the user's world, possibly with implications reaching far beyond their world.

As he magically probed the area around the Rune, he received a vision of an open field blockaded by police and military. Numerous men in bio hazard suits were patrolling the area, many of them armed with assault rifles. The men examined the Paradox Rune, which resembled a Penrose Square of red light. The men used instruments to scan the Rune and the rock it was on to learn as much as they possibly could. Another man walked up to the Rune, carrying a box-like device.

"I just felt the presence of another Rune. It's the Paradox Rune," said Clow Reed.

"Master Reed, I need all of the Runecaptors involved for my plan. I can't spare many people to go look for it," said Iroh.

"I know, that's why I'm going to get it by myself," said Reed.

"...By yourself? We need you here, Master Reed," said Aeka.

"I'm only an adviser on magic and the supernatural. I know of another who can do that just as well as I can. She will be my replacement during your campaign against the Secessionists," assured Reed. "Don't worry, I have a plan. Just concentrate on succeeding with the campaign."

* * *

Daisuke Aramaki, once the spy known as Yuber, waited in the living room of the abode he had used while selling drugs. The door bell rang and Aramaki let in the blue-haired Juraian man in plain clothes on the other side. "So Yuber, how did the battle go?" asked the Juraian contact.

"Quite well," replied Aramaki. "Although they had attacked, your forces helped me repel them with minimal loss. However, now that its current location is compromised, I will have to relocate."

"Of course," said the contact. "Have you heard of anything else from the Empress Faction?"

"Yes, it seems they are constructing a new forward base in the Alpha Centauri system near Earth in Juraihelm," reported Aramaki. "The Empress Faction seems to be preparing an attack against the Imperials. However, if you can capture this base, it would make a great beachhead from which to attack Empress Faction space."

Yuber continued to give out information, pointing out locations of Empress Faction units and suggesting a route of entry. "I see, thank you for the tip," replied the contact.

"Of course, you're welcome."

Once the contact was far away, Aramaki contacted Kusanagi. "Well, did it work?" asked the Major.

"Yes, he seemed to have bought my story," replied Aramaki.

"Good, then I take it we can begin to shut down the drug operations?" asked the Major.

"Yes," replied Aramaki. "I want to clean up the mess I made as soon as possible."

Some time later, at Alpha Centauri, the Nirvana, the Gekko, and other assorted ships of the Empress Faction and Runecaptors patrolled space above the fourth planet. It was a jungle world teeming with wildlife and lush green trees. A section of this untouched planet had been cleared away and in its place were the foundations of buildings under construction. Within weeks, this area would be a space port for Empress Faction ships, complete with barracks for soldiers, and a command centre for the leaders.

"Guard duty is pretty boring," remarked Hibiki as he travelled down the hall of the Nirvana.

"Hi Mr. Alien!" greeted Dita with her usual cheerfulness. "I've been making a special treat for you. Come try it!"

"Sure!" replied Hibiki.

"Okay then, meet me an hour before lunch," said Dita, who seemed to skipped away cheerfully as she left.

"Oh Hibiki!" chimed another woman a bit later, her voice almost going into song.

Hibiki turned to see a sexy blonde woman coming down the hall. She was in a flattering dress which was open down the middle, exposing the skin. Her hair was long and well kept ad her eyes bright green. She was a woman who was feminine, beautiful, and proud of it. While Hibiki was in his mid teens, this woman, Jura Basil Elden, was approaching her twenties, old enough to be his big sister. The woman embraced Hibiki tightly.

"Hi Hibiki!" said Jura. "I was wondering if you can help me make a baby today."

"Uh no, sorry I can't. I promised to meet Dita," said Hibiki.

"Oh, her again?" said Jura, pouting at the mere mention of Dita's name. "You're always spending time with her. When are you ever going to find time to help me have a baby?"

"Okay, I'll help you tomorrow," said Hibiki, exasperated with Jura's constant nagging.

"Really?" asked Jura, her head perking up to ensure that she had heard him right.

"Yeah! Just stop badgering me already!" said Hibiki.

"Remember, you promised! You promised! Meet me at my room after lunch tomorrow," said Jura, almost skipping away cheerfully.

Hibiki sighed. At that moment, an alarm klaxon sounded and the hallway flashed red. The speakers announced a red alert, calling for all pilots to launch. Hibiki ran down the hallways as fast as he could to reach his Vanguard unit. Dita and Meia were already at the hangar, boarding their Dread units. Jura came just moments behind him and scrambled for her Dread. Other pilots launched their Dread units and headed out to intercept the enemy. When they left the hangar, they found the black void filled by a fleet of Juraian craft. Explosions burst everywhere and beams of energy streaked across in the distance.

Upon being scanned, the enemy ships gave off a Secessionist signature. It was an attack by Yosho's forces. The Gekko had already launched its LFO units to intercept the Secessionists. The Nirvash weaved past enemy fire to a blind spot and unloaded ammunition upon a Juraian ship. The shots impacted the forming Light Hawk Wings, which held up, but was placed under great pressure. The enemy tried to track and fire, but the Nirvash was slipped away. It circled to a blind spot and returned fire, eventually causing the shield to buckle. The next shot burned through the hull, wracking the ship with massive damage.

When Hibiki entered the fray, he immediately grouped with the Dreads to shoot down a second Juraian ship. "Hibiki, the enemy outnumber us," reported Magno. "Combine with Jura's Dread to provide defence. "

"Roger," responded Hibiki.

He guided his Vanguard mecha unit to Jura's Dread and the two merged into a red, crab-like space craft. A series of remotely discs orbited this strange vehicle. One of them flew over and raised a green barrier to defend an Empress Faction ship coming under heavy fire. The enemy's fire could not penetrate the barrier. The Empress Faction ship returned fire, right around the barrier. The shot seared through the enemy's hull, reducing the ship to a molten wreck. Jura and Hibiki continued to direct the discs as best they could, providing as much cover as possible for their side.

However, even with such talented pilots and unique, powerful units on their side, the Empress Faction was still outmatched. One after the other, their ships went down to enemy fire. When they realized it was futile, Magno called off her fleet. "All units, this is a general retreat. Move to way point one immediately," ordered Magno, repeating the orders again to ensure her fleet had heard her.

As Magno's fleet moved into the way point, several new ships suddenly popped in from hyperspace, right on top of them. "Whoa, that was close!" remarked Jura as she saw the Imperial ship suddenly pop up next to the Nirvana. "It almost crashed into the Nirvana."

"Great, just what we need," remarked Hibiki sarcastically.

"Ma'am, several new ships have dropped out of hyperspace right on top of us!" announced Ezra. "They are Imperial craft!"

"Oh that's just dandy!" commented Magno. "All forces, keep going! Head for the jump off point!"

As the Empress fleet fled, the Secessionists kept firing. However, since the Imperial fleet was so dangerously close, some of the enemy's stray shots streak by, and one hit an Imperial ship accidentally. The Imperial capital ship shuddered as a beam slammed into its hull. "What's going on?" asked the captain.

"Sir, we are taking fire from Secessionist ships!" cried an operator.

Another shot struck the Imperial capital ship, which shuddered violently. The captain doubled over. "Argggh, return fire! Return fire!" cried the captain.

The Imperials immediately shot at the more numerous Secessionists. In turn, the Secessionists took damage and started to direct some of their fire at the Imperials. The Empress Faction was forgotten as the shoot out escalated. Despite having taken heavy losses, the Empress faction survivors reached their jump off point. One by one, they dropped into hyperspace, leaving the bloodbath in space behind them. The Secessionists and Imperials, left with each other, continued to shoot at each other.

"Ka One, do you read me?" asked a Secessionist ship through a distorted, broken transmission. "We are under attack by the Imperials! Send reinforcements!"

"This is Ka One. B1, you're breaking up, please repeat the message," replied Ka One.

"I repeat, we are under attack by Imperials! Send reinforcements!" replied B1.

As the operator dealt with B1 and the Imperial attack, an unknown figure placed a package right by the power generator of Ka One Base. The man pressed a button on a metallic device hidden within the wrapping, arming the device for detonation. The man quickly covered the button and concealed the package as well as he possibly could. After moving far away as he possibly could, the man found himself in a field. Within moments, an explosion ripped through the base. The blast ignited a massive plume of flame that could be seen for miles around and left the base as smouldering wreckage.

* * *

start here "Your Majesty," addressed one of Azusa's underlings. "Our attack forces had been attacked by the Secessionists."

"What?" remarked Azusa in shock.

"The attack destroyed more that 60% of our invasion force. While this was happening, the Secessionists had bombed our base in Ka. It is clear they intend to confront us directly. We must mobilize our forces to counter attack them at the Pleiades."

"Of course," replied Azusa. "They will not get away with this insult."

Though the Imperials were angry with this recent attack, the Empress Faction was delighted. "Iroh, your plan worked perfectly," remarked Aeka.

"Yes, even better than I had planned," he agreed. "The Imperials are sending a large force to attack a Secessionist forward base in the Pleiades Star Cluster. Things will escalate very rapidly from here on out. Now this the opportunity we've been waiting for. Since the Secessionists had stolen Runes, we should focus our efforts on them. We'll mobilize our forces to recapture Coralia. I'm sure the UF exiles would love to take back their home, as would the Gekko crew."

"Coralia is the Secessionists' staging ground for an advance towards other anime worlds. If we can retake it, we'll contain them within Juraihelm," remarked Aeka. "We'll step up preparations."

In the meantime, Renton and Eureka were lying within a verdant field of Crystal Valley. She nuzzled her head against his chest and Renton put his arm around her. They stayed this way for several seconds, going onto minutes, yet said not a single word to each other. The love between them was so strong that it was as if they could tell each other without having to speak at all. The two were a young couple, who shared a love born from depending on each other in the heat of battle.

Winry approached the two and noticed them in such a loving embrace. She decided to back up and spy on them for awhile. The two continued to stay this way for several seconds before Eureka moved up and kissed Renton on the lips. Winry was quite taken aback and blushed. Unfortunately, she was not paying attention and dislodged some pebbles. It made a sound that the lovers could hear from their location. Eureka and Renton bolted up and faced Winry. They then turned away from each other and blushed in beet-red embarrassment.

Winry however, was equally embarrassed, beet-red in the cheeks from seeing the two in such a romantic moment. After a moment of awkward silence and avoiding each other's gaze, Eureka finally got over her embarrassment enough to speak. "Winry, what are you doing here?" she asked, still trembling in her voice.

"Uh, hi guys," she muttered meekly. She quickly recomposed herself enough to speak to the couple. "Oh yeah, now I remember! I'm here to tell you that the Princess said that we're moving out in five days."

"Five days?" asked Renton.

"Yes, and guess where we're going?"

"Where?" asked Eureka.

"Coralia," replied Winry.

"That's great!" said Renton. "So we're going to take it back?"

"I think so. Sakura's group is going and Shaoran's is too. Everybody's taking part in this one," informed Winry.

"Wow! Finally, a chance to get back at the Secessionists," said Renton.

"Yeah, I hope everyone is okay back there. I feel like such a coward for running away. Now we have a chance to make up for it," said Eureka.

** END OF CHAPTER**

start here 


	25. Paradox 2: Day Rune

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
****

The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

****

Paradox Rebuffed, part 2: Day Rune 

A few years ago, the people of the Britannia thought their slavery was assured. "All hail Emperor Lelouch!" chanted the imperial court.

It was the crowning of the new Emperor of Britannia, Lelouch Lamperouge. The Emperor-to-be was still just a boy, yet the court worshipped him like a god. "All hail Emperor Lelouch!" they chanted again.

The dark haired boy gazed over the crowd which chanted his name with such reverence. The imperial court would be his subjects, and he would be free to do with as he pleased. Triumph never tasted so sweet. It seemed no one could stop him, not those of the imperial court and certainly not his former nemesis, Suzaku Kururugi. Before him were several people paraded in chains, ranging from traitors, enemies, to even former friends. All of them were paraded around in their final march to death by an execution squad.

Lelouch felt invincible, all of his other enemies were dead and the last of them was about to be eliminated. As his float followed the parade of condemned, a man in black descended onto his float. The masked man was none other than Zero, Lelouch's alter ego, but it was not Lelouch behind that mask. Zero rushed up to Lelouch, but before the Emperor could do anything, Zero had stabbed him with a sword. Blood trickled out of his body and down the blade. Lelouch collapsed in a heap and Zero fled before he could be captured. Just like that, Lelouch was dead and with him went the hated Empire...

A year had passed and the world of Britannia was at peace. Much had changed since the assassination of Lelouch Lamperouge. The world had developed new technologies, chief among them was the dimensional gate. The first gate opened on the anniversary of Lelouch's death, marking a new beginning for Britannia. Even before the first gate had opened, Britannia had started relations with a foreign world, that of Spion.

Spion was a natural ally for Britannia. Both worlds had received great influence from the spread of the British Empire. The two worlds quickly formed trade alliances and connected their worlds with the gates to facilitate movement between the worlds. With the wealth this trade had generated, Britannia quickly recovered from the brutal wars which had plagued it before Lelouch's ascension to the throne. Even though the Britannian Empire was a thing of the past, some people were very reluctant to let go of the past.

A faction of the Imperial Court longed for the prominence and power of the old Empire. One such person was the young Prince Edward di Britannia, one of the late Emperor Charles' son. The prince was a blond man in the uniform, a regal blue jacket with white pants, of his household. The prince walked over to the video phone in his private office. Despite his regal demeanour, this man was a schemer and his face showed the he had plans in mind. Now that Lelouch was gone, he had started to become more active.

"My prince, are you there?" asked a second distinguished blond, British man from the other end of a two-way video phone.

"Yes Joker, what is it?" asked Edward.

"My prince, the Paradox Rune has been transported safely to the Imperial Research facility in New York. You were right. Someone had attacked the decoy leaving our facility in Hong Kong," reported Joker.

"I see... Can you tell me more about these attackers?"

"They are members of the Three Sisters Detective Agency. They had taken several jobs for Dokusensha before it collapsed. We've had run-ins with them here at the British Library also. They were responsible for our break up. A man named Clive Remington had hired them to steal Runes on his behalf."

"What information do you have on this Remington?"

"Not much," replied Joker succinctly. "After checking his background, we believe that Remington is merely a false identity for his operations."

"I see," remarked Edward. "Nevertheless, your first priority is to defend the Rune. This Three Sisters Detective Agency will certainly try steal the Rune again. See to it that they fail."

"Of course your majesty," assured Joker.

* * *

Joker shut off the phone and turned to face the room behind him. It was like a massive library, filled with many people who zipped around to shelve and remove books from each of the massive shelves. This room must have contained thousands of books all by itself, and there were still more rooms like it in other parts of the complex. This was the Britannian Library, a new agency created in the wake of the Spion-Britannia alliance.

After passing through several rooms and hallways, Joker encountered several men and women in lab coats moving about. He entered the research area, the most sterile portion of the Library's hidden compound. He encountered two armed guards at a door and nodded to them after showing his ID. "Okay Mr. Joker, step right in," said the guard.

Joker had entered an observation cabin overlooking a large, fortified blast room. From the cabin's design, it was meant to safely observe and manipulate dangerous objects and substances at a safe distance. Within the blast room, in a single pedestal, was a red emblem which depicted a Penrose square. Its bizarre, paradoxical design indicated that it was the Contradiction Rune, also known as the Paradox Rune. A robotic arm moved to the Rune, sawing it with a cutting laser until a sliver fell out. A small robotic vehicle collected the sliver and drove it back to other waiting scientists.

"Status report," commanded Joker.

"We're ahead of schedule. We have cut the 400th sliver just as you came, sir. We'll easily reach our 500 sliver quota by six o'clock," replied the chief scientist.

"Well done, keep up the good work. We need all the slivers we can harvest for Britannia."

Joker left the room and went to his office, where a handful of underlings waited for his orders. The first two was were a pair of brown haired boys in their late teen or early twenties. They seemed quite competent and capable despite their youth, as though they had seen much in such a short time. From their appearance, they appeared to be brothers. The third was a blonde girl in a form-fitting, plastic white dress who munched on a slice of pizza. Joker recognized this odd group as Ronald Cunningham, Louie Cunningham, and Christine, agents of Britannian Intelligence.

Joker frowned in disgust as Christine's munching of her pizza. "Does she have to do that?"

"Sorry sir, I keep telling her, but she loves pizza too much for her good," remarked Louie.

"Eh, never mind, I have new orders for you," announced Joker.

He pressed buttons on a remote control which lowered a projector screen and dimmed the lights in the room. A picture of a remote desert appeared on the screen. It was sandy and seemed very hot, judging from the bright sun and hazy air. Small brush plants were the only thing of note in the image, save for a single rock at the centre. One this lone rock was an emblem of two orbs orbiting a much larger third orb. One orb was blue, and seemed to represent the Earth, while the other two representing the sun and the moon. It depicted a day cycle on the Earth, as day and night moved across the planet.

"This emblem is the Day Rune. It is part of a set of 27 along with the Paradox Rune we already possess. We found it just yesterday in the White Sands National Monument of the United States in Spion. You three are to lead a team there to retrieve it," ordered Joker.

"Yes sir!"

* * *

On the couch of her home, Maggie was curled up and reading the Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. She was engrossed in the novel, following the mischievous exploits of Tom and his friend, Huckleberry Finn. As a papermaster, she had a love of books that was unequalled by any normal person. She was a compulsive reader and beside her right laid a stack of three finished novels. Her obsession with reading made it very difficult to become rich, since so much of her money went into buying new books. After Yomiko moved in with her sisters, they started to share books to cut costs.

In the room next door, Yomiko perused a new book from Clow Reed. This man was a magician from the world of Tarota who studied the various magical systems of the anime worlds as a hobby. He was also an archaeologist who delved into lost civilizations to plumb their secrets. His book, "Harmonian Empire," was a recent release, written while still digging at Crystal Valley, the capital of Harmonia. It was a fascinating book and Yomiko was currently reading about the Second Firebringer War. It was historically accurate, yet had many elements of fantasy fiction, likely due to the nature of the world.

In particular, one young teenaged boy was at the centre of these events. His name was Hugo, a member of the Karaya Clan of the Grasslands. Although a normal tribal boy, his life changed when his village was burnt by the nation of Zexen. Travelling to defend the Grasslands clan, he eventually learned of the hero known as the "Flame Champion," who had united the clans to repel a Harmonian invasion in the past. In pursuing this lead, he learned that the hero was dead.

Instead, he took the Flame Champion's Fire Rune, becoming the new Flame Champion. At that point, the Harmonians launched a full invasion of the Grasslands, pushing the clans all the way back to Duck Village. Hugo united the clans with Zexen as the new Firebringer army and fought back. Eventually, the new Firebringer repelled the Harmonians who were discovered to actually be a renegade faction within the empire. As she read the accounts of the war by its participants, the phone next to Yomiko rang.

"Hello," replied Yomiko in her dignified British accent.

"Hello, is this the Three Sisters Detective Agency?" asked the caller.

"Yes, that's correct."

"I'm Clive Remington, I need to speak with the Paper Sisters as soon as possible. Can they meet me in the cafe in half an hour? It's very urgent," insisted Remington.

"Hold on, I'll check," said Yomiko. She enquired with the paper sisters and got a positive answer. "They'll be there. They're heading out now."

"Wonderful! I'll see them then."

The Paper Sisters entered the cafe and looked about. Remington was in a booth in the far corner of the store. In front of him was a cup of steaming hot coffee. He mixed cream and a packet of sugar into his drink before cautiously taking a sip. The Sisters approached him and drew his attention. "Ah hello, please have a seat," offered Remington.

He took a sip of his coffee as the Sisters complied. "What's so important that you had to call us here?" asked Anita.

"It's very important," replied Remington."

Remington slid over a photo of a strange emblem on a rock. It depicted the Earth being orbited by a small sun and moon. From the layout, this emblem suggested a day-night cycle from the Earth's perspective, as day and night moved across the planet in a cycle. In the photo's background was a vast stretch of sandy land, a desert in fact. The sand was almost white in colour, something that was highly unusual for sand. The photo was taken from above, likely from a helicopter or a spy plane.

"This is a picture of a Rune in the White Sands National Monument in the US in Britannia. In addition to the Paradox Rune, my employers also want this Rune, the Day Rune, as well. They will double your pay to take this job. Do you accept?"

"Yes, we will leave at once," replied Michelle.

"Thank you. I have gotten word that there are people out in search of this Rune. Please be careful," warned Remington.

* * *

The Day Rune glowed upon its rock within the White Sands. It seemed to be waiting for the time when it would regain its power and rise again after being locked away for millennia. The swishing of helicopter blades filled the air and approached the location of the Rune. A military convoy of helicopters approached from the distance, hoping to claim the Rune for the Britannian Library. When the choppers landed, out came Louie, Ronald, and Christine, guarded by a retinue of armed soldiers.

Louie, Ronald, and Christine looked over the glowing Rune. "This is it," called Louie. "Bring the containment box."

A pair of soldiers returned from one of the choppers bearing a metal box similar in size to a hamster cage. Despite its seemingly small size, the box was heavy enough that it required two men just to carry it. The soldiers activated a remote control, which caused the box to pop open and expose an emitter connected to a set of internal circuitry. The emitter opened a vortex in space which proceeded to drag the Rune within. The Rune peeled off and stretched like taffy. Once it could not hold out, it became sucked into the containment box.

Hidden by a conveniently placed sand dune, Yomiko and the Paper Sisters watched the men around the area. "That's our cue. Let's go!" said Anita.

Michelle climbed to the top of the dune and let loose a paper arrow upon one of the guards. The paper arrow pierced through the man's chest, letting loose a haze of blood. The other guards reached for guns upon realizing they were under attack. Before they could react, Anita was already upon them, slicing them with cards used as makeshift blades. The guards that still remained finally drew their weapons and fired at Michelle. She merely dropped behind the dune as bullets sailed just above and past it.

Drake suddenly peered from behind a second sand dune and fired. His shots dropped a guard near Louie and alerted him to Drake's position. Louie hid behind the body of his helicopter and returned fire at Drake. The mercenary ducked behind the dune and pulled out a grenade. Using his teeth, he pulled the pin and hurled the grenade into helicopter's open door. Louie quickly made himself scarce, diving to the ground just before it exploded and spewed shrapnel everywhere in the interior.

When Louie finally looked up, he noticed Maggie commanding a gorilla made out of paper. The gorilla picked up the Rune containment box, which had been dropped by soldiers who had fallen from the initial attack. "No you don't!" muttered Louie. His left eye turned violet and a crimson, bird-like image formed on its surface. He peered directly into Maggie's eyes. "Give me the Rune."

Maggie, in a dream-like trance, proceeded to turn the paper gorilla around and bring the containment box to Louie. At that moment, Yomiko noticed that Maggie was not fleeing with the Rune as they had planned. She immediately plastered Louie with countless sheets of paper and hurled him away. "Maggie, what are you doing? That wasn't part of the plan!"

"I must give the Rune to him. Get out of my way!" said Maggie.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, but if you won't follow the plan, then give it to me," demanded Yomiko.

"Try me," remarked Maggie, who formed a dragon out of paper sheets.

The dragon lunged for Yomiko, who quickly formed a paper board and skated away on the sand. The dragon chased her as she turned around to approach. As she came in, Yomiko hurled paper at Maggie, who forced the gorilla to stand in front and take the hit. "What's gotten into you?" asked Yomiko.

"What are you doing? Why are you attacking my sister?" asked Anita as watched the two papermasters duel.

"She's acting strange, then attacked me when I tried to take the Rune off her hands," replied Yomiko.

The dragon lunged for the two of them and forcing them to scatter. The dragon blew up a sand cloud as it hit the ground. It would have caused severe injury had it connected with either Anita or Yomiko, who were fortunate enough to escape. "Maggie, are you blind? You could've hit me! What's wrong with you?" scolded Anita.

"I don't know, but I think something's controlling her. We have to knock her out," urged Yomiko.

"Okay, cover me, I'll do it," said Anita.

Yomiko released numerous sheets of paper which homed on Maggie. Maggie saw the sheets coming and positioned the paper gorilla in front of her to soak up the attack. The dragon popped over the gorilla and breathed paper as though it was fire. Yomiko gathered paper together and formed a sturdy wall which sucked in the paper and added them to the wall itself. Anita watched these events carefully, hidden away behind a dune of sand. Now that Maggie was sufficiently distracted, she struck.

Anita came at her with a flying knee, aimed straight for the back of Maggie's head. Maggie sensed her coming and moved out of the away. Anita landed on the sand and launched herself forward with a flurry of punches and kicks. Maggie blocked a kick and summoned paper from her pockets and formed a serpent. It wrapped around Anita's leg and slowly crawled up to constrict her. Anita pushed to break free, eventually regaining her composure and tore the snake apart.

However, the battle was lost for the Britannian Library. Several of their men were down, felled by paper weapons and the guns of Drake and Junior. "Retreat, the mission is a failure!" cried Louie over the radio. Louie and his cohort fled to their helicopter under the covering fire of Ronald and the surviving soldiers.

The dragon flattened Yomiko. Maggie turned in time to see Louie fleeing in one of the helicopters. "Wait, I have the Rune!" cried Maggie.

Maggie transformed the gorilla into a bird of paper and chased after Louie. Just before it took off, Anita had gotten up and leapt onto the tail, holding on for dear life. Yomiko crawled out of the mass of papers and saw this whole series of events transpire. "Anita!" cried Yomiko.

Anita crawled in through the flaps of paper, seeing Maggie hidden inside, controlling the bird. With a quick chop to the back of her head, Anita knocked her out. However, in doing so, Maggie lost control and the bird started to break apart. Anita took over the reigns, straining to keep it together, let alone fly the bird. Yomiko chased the bird as fast as she could, using paper to surf through the air. When she was close enough, Yomiko reinforced Anita's control and helped to brake its descent.

The bird crashed to the ground and shattered into its constituent paper sheets. Michelle, Drake, and Junior ran to the site of the crash, where Anita was cradling her sister's unconscious body. Yomiko was looking over her to see if she had suffered any harm on landing. "She'll be fine. She's just unconscious," Anita assured her.

"Where's the Rune?" asked Drake.

Junior noticed a bulge in the mass of paper. Upon digging it out, he found the metal container within. "Here it is," he called out.

"What made her to act like that?" asked Anita. "Why would Maggie betray us like that?"

The Paper Sisters and their friends were stumped. Drake thought back to the battle, remembering the events that happened just before the betrayal. He remembered hurling that grenade into the helicopter, forcing Louie to dive away to evade it. He remembered seeing Louie glance around, then focus his gaze towards Maggie's eyes. At that moment, he was going to look away to scan for other attackers. Replaying the scene again in mind in slow motion, he remembered seeing something strange happen in Louie's eye.

He replayed the scene again and again, trying to clearly remember what it was. "Yes, I remember seeing the glint of a... red bird in one of the attacker's eyes."

"A red bird?" asked Michelle.

"Yes," replied Drake. "It happened just before Maggie turn traitor. He looked at Maggie and that's when she suddenly started to act strange. He must have some special power like you ladies and Junior have, something like a hypnosis power."

"If that's true, how do we remove it?" asked Anita. "Wait... Why don't we ask Remington?"

The Paper Sisters returned with Maggie in tow, who was still under the effects of Louie's hypnosis. For the entire trip, she was unconscious and entangled in a cocoon of paper. The girls laid Maggie on a bed before their employer. Remington held open her eye lids and looked into her eyes. Since Maggie was still unconscious, her eyes were glazed over. She had no awareness of her immediately situation and simply stared upwards at the ceiling blankly.

"Just as I thought, she's under the spell of a Geass," remarked Remington.

"A Geass? Those eye powers from Britannia?" asked Drake.

"Yes," replied Remington. "The one that got Maggie implants a hypnotic command into her mind. It can only work once on her though, fortunately, but this is something to watch out for should you ever encounter the user again." Remington waved his other hand over Maggie's head. The bird symbol flickered for a brief moment and vanished. "There, that should do it. She'll be fine once she wakes up."

"Thanks Mr. Remington. We've captured the Day Rune for you. Here it is," said Yomiko, showing off the containment box on the floor.

"Thank you, Ms. Readman. I'll return it to my employers. For now, we'll wait. I still need to find out where they hid the Contradiction Rune."

** END OF CHAPTER**

** SPOTLIGHT: Britannia (Code Geass) **

Politics/Demographics:  
While the name of the world, Britannia is also the name of an empire which once controlled a vast portion of its world. True to its name, the Empire was a monarchy, with power centralized on the Britannian Empire and his court. Despite it's name, Britannia didn't even control the British Isles despite its traditions originating from the British. Its seat of power was the American continent with many territories overseas, including Japan. After severe revolts in Japan, the Empire collapsed, but is once again expanding, this time through alliances to other worlds like Spion rather than conquest.

Characters/VIPs:  
Lelouch Lamperouge became the last Emperor after deposing the last, his father. His death by Zero was staged, allowing him to operate without public scrutiny. His current goal is to ensure that the Empire stays fallen operating under various aliases to sabotage would-be conquerors. Amongst his allies are CC, who had given him his Geass powers, and Rolo Lamperouge, his brother.

Powers:  
Technologically, the world Britannia is a leader with respect to robotics and electronics. In particular, its military forces use Knightmare Frames, robotic war machines driven by a pilot. Britannia has also developed a clean new energy technology which harnesses the mineral Sakuradite, but this power source can be somewhat unstable.

Britannia also has psionics in the form of the Geass eye powers. These powers, manifested from the eyes, enable a person to psychically affect his or her victims. One of these powers includes Lelouch's Geass of Absolute Obedience, capable of compelling its victims to obey his command. Another is Rolo's Absolute Suspension, able to suspend its victims' perception of time. CC once had Absolute Affection, able to make anyone fall in love with her, but has since traded it away for immortality and regenerative powers.

** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Day Rune **  
Domain: Cycles, Day, Rotation, Repetition  
Duality: Cycles vs. Repetition  
Appearance: Sun & Moon orbiting a planet in a day cycle  
Powers: Controls anything which operates in cycles

Description:  
This Rune governs the passage of cycles, which abound in the world. Such cycles range from the passage of a day to the cycle of life itself. As the bearer learns about cycles, they are bound to fall into the trap of repetition. They are doomed to reincarnate and repeat the mistakes of his or her past lives. Only by understanding the truth, that cycles are more than just repetition, can the bearer achieve enlightenment and transcend their lot.


	26. Circle 2: Retaking Coralia

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
****

The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

****

The Circle Broken, part 2: Retaking Coralia 

In the space around Coralia, all was silent. Ships from the Secessionists milled around, patrolling the void for any invaders or intruders to the planet. The Secessionist invasion had been a complete success. The measly resistance put up by the natives was no match for the might of Juraian technology and military prowess. However, they would soon face an enemy that was more than a match for them. Suddenly, several doorways of glimmering light, paths to another universe, opened.

Several ships of Juraian design emerged from the portals. They were ships of the Runecaptors and the Empress Faction. At Coralia, Secessionist alarm systems went off madly. Alert klaxons blared loudly, drowning out all other sound. Hundreds of blips filled their radar screens, converging on their positions like hornets. Secessionist pilots scrambled for their ships while more operators rushed to fill in their stations. Hundreds of Secessionist ships arose from an arboretum, heading to space to form a defensive line while others travelled to intercept the enemy.

At the same time, Shinji, Rei, and Asuka scrambled for their Evas. When the technicians gave the word, a loader pushed the capsules into an Eva with a hiss. Rather than the three units, the capsules had been placed into entered a new set of Evas. These dark grey Evas were nothing like the three original, humanoid Units. They were an octahedral diamond in shape and had no visible means of mobility. The loading hatches closed with a click, locking the Children inside.

As Shinji waited inside patiently, a yellowy-orange fluid started to fill the capsule. This fluid, LCL, smelled of blood. This life-preserving fluid would not drown him, but rather provide him life support even in the vacuum of outer space. As the fluid slowly filled, he thought back to his battle with Ramiel. It was just before Asuka had come over to join the team in Japan. It was the toughest Angel they had fought yet, and they did not have Asuka's help for it. Its AT Field was especially difficult to pierce, requiring a positron beam cannon powered by several Japanese power plants.

Shinji remembered how the beam burned through and disabled Ramiel. After the battle, NERV secured Ramiel's remains for study. Since Ramiel was so huge, NERV couldn't move Ramiel out of its grave site immediately. It simply sent scientific teams over to study the corpse on site. Eventually, NERV divided Ramiel into several parts in order to clear the area. Once they did, the scientists used the remains to clone new Evas from them, the Ramiel or "R" Units. The LCL finally reached Shinji's shoulders.

After the Omnipotence had captured the Geofront, they started to steal critical information from NERV computers. The terrorist organization had used the information to improve its Angel clones in preparation for open warfare against the anime worlds. Once Valiance liberated the Geofront, the UN decided to accelerate the production of the R Units. The UN feared that a new organization similar to Omnipotence would rise again. Its fears were confirmed when the Juraians, a vast space empire, fragmented into the three factions fighting a civil war today.

The R Units had gotten their first taste in combat at Majina, where they had shot down a STAB space cruiser. Now, they were getting their next taste of combat; a battle against a Juraian tree ship. The LCL immersed Shinji completely, giving him life support for the void of outer space. Mission control initiated a countdown and a portal started to open beneath his R Unit. It sank it into the hole and found itself in outer space, floating by anti-gravity underneath the Empress Faction's flag ship, the Tsunami.

"Eva team, your job is simple. Bring down the Tsuchi-no-kimi's and its cohort so that our ships can reach the enemy's capital ships," commanded Misato over the radio. "Open a line of fire by bringing down the Tsuchi-no."

"Roger," replied Rei.

The battle was underway with both the Secessionist and Empress Factions trading blow for blow. Explosions flared in the vast void of space and beams sailed back and forth from ship to ship. Both sides were taking heavy fire, but the R Units were about to tilt the balance in favour of the Empress Faction. The trio of diamonds encircled the Tsuchi-no, which responded by firing upon them. The R Units, with their AT Fields active, took the brunt enemy's fire without suffering much damage.

Shinji, Asuka, and Rei returned fire by focusing a trio of beams directly at the Tsuchi-no-kimi's body. The beams collided with a bluish bubble of light. The enemy ship attempted to turn around and moved to a new location. "The Tsuchi-no-kimi is trying to support a weak flank in the enemy forces. Asuka, bring down those Light Hawk Wings," commanded Misato. "Shinji, Rei, keep enemy fire away from her."

"Roger!" replied Asuka jubilantly.

"Roger," replied Shinij.

Shinji and Rei circled the Tsuchi-no-kimi and pelted the ship with as much beam fire as they could. Its Light Hawk Wing barriers held firm in the face of this onslaught. The Tsunami began to fire upon the enemy ship, but even its support, the enemy's Light Hawk Wings held firm. A break in enemy fire opened and Asuka slipped through and turned her R Unit's bottom side to the Light Hawk Wing barrier. A drill bit extended from the R Unit, inching its way to the barrier.

The drill touched the barrier, causing it fray gruesomely. A hole started to open in the barrier, compromising the integrity of its whole. The hole widened more, now large enough to move part of the R Unit into it and wedge the barrier open further and prevent its closure. The Tsuchi-no-kimi caught on to her plan and concentrated its fire on her. The beams sailed through the hole, impacting Asuka's AT Field heavily. The hit caused the unit to shudder and the AT Field to weaken.

"I taking too much fire. I'm pulling out!" cried Asuka.

"Don't worry, we've got you covered," replied Shinji.

After Asuka fled the hole, Shinji immediately fired into it with everything he had. Once beam struck the Tsuchi-no-kimi, melting through its metal and wood frame like butter. An explosion ripped through the interior as the beam ignited some power systems. The ship lost its composure as its anti-gravity systems collapsed. It started to flounder as though it was dizzy. The ship hurtled through space as explosions ripped it apart from the inside out. Escape ships fled just before a great power core explosion tore through the ship.

"The Tsuchi-no-kimi is down. Repeat, the Tsuchi-no-kimi is down," reported Rei, with the same message being echoed by other ships near her.

With a major Secessionist ship down, the morale of the defence fleet plummeted. Without it, the Secessionists' Light Hawk barrier had weakened so sharply, that now, fire from individual ships could now penetrate them. Rei's beam pierced another barrier, travelling through to the ship and melting a massive hole through it. Like the Tsuchi-no-kimi, this act had caused several secondary explosions and fires to rip through the ship. It damaged and destroyed the power core, causing the tree's power to overflow and explode the ship.

The enemy fleet fell, one ship at a time. Having suffered such devastating losses, the Secessionist fleet was forced to retreat with the few survivors they had. Now, the Empress Faction and allies had complete control over the space around Coralia. Its ships zeroed in on the locked onto planetary defences and pelted them from orbit. For every shot they fired, two or more beams or rockets came back from the surface. These shots struck an Empress ship, whittling down its Light Hawk Wing barrier. A missile slipped through an opening and blew the ship to pieces.

* * *

The Secessionists had fortified Coralia since the Runecaptors were there. Since the enemy planetary defences were so strong, the Empress Faction fleet withdrew to the moon to regroup. The vast majority of its fleet had successfully reached the moon, but quite a few ships did not, having been shot down by either the Secessionist fleet or the Coralian planetary defence system. Since a direct assault was not effective, the Secessionists needed to sneak teams onto the planet to destroy the defences from within.

Under the cover of night, Shikamaru's team snuck across a flat plain some distance from one of the Secessionist arboretums. The group was laying flat on the ground hidden behind rocks and shrubs that dotted the landscape. "There's one up ahead," remarked Hinata.

Through the Byakugan technique, she was able to see a large box-like object fixed onto a swivelling metallic pivot. The object turned around as though trying to track something up in the sky. It had rockets in a series of open compartments. A similar object was a short distance away, but this one had a gun mounted on it instead of a rocket launcher. As the missile launcher turned towards them, the ninja ducked down to avoid being seen.

"How many are there?" asked Shikamaru.

"I see at least twenty, all over the area ahead," replied Hinata.

"Wow, that many? No wonder why we had so much trouble," remarked Naruto.

"Wait, I see more..." said Hinata.

A distance away Hinata saw a convoy of vehicles travelling away from the field of missile launchers and surface-to-space guns. Most of the vehicles were like Humvees, each of which carried four soldiers armed with guns and rocket launchers. At the centre, protected by the Humvees, was a series of flat bed trucks with rocket launchers mounted on them. On top of the driver's cabin was a concave radar dish which rotated in search of objects in the sky.

"There's a convoy of vehicles 10km north from the missile launcher array," reported Hinata.

"Good, that is what we came here for," remarked Rock Lee. "Let us take them out!"

The ninja split up with Rock Lee and Shikamaru going to the convoy while Naruto and Hinata dealt with the rocket launchers. Naruto and Hinata moved as close to the rocket launchers as they could without having it detect them. When one turned away, Hinata snuck behind it and planted a paper bomb on it. While still prone, Naruto rolled up a second paper bomb and slipped it into an empty rocket tube. Within several minutes, they had rigged every single one of the launchers with explosives, ready to set them off at a moment's notice.

The two ninja quickly fled the area without being caught. Once they were a safe distance away, they detonated the paper bombs. Massive plumes of flame burst from the missile launchers, one after the other like dominoes. Deafening booms erupted in their wake, rousing the Juraian guards from their sleepy watch. Others cowered from the explosions, hidden in protective cover until it was clear. As they dealt with this sudden attack, Shikamaru and Rock Lee had cornered the convoy as it took a pit stop for food and rest.

The mobile launchers had stopped just across the street from a convenience store so that the drivers and passengers could eat. Only half of the convoy had left for food. The rest remained behind to as lookouts until the others returned. "Great, this is our chance," remarked Lee.

"Take the big ones, I'll grab the Humvees," directed Shikamaru.

Rock Lee waited until the driver of the mobile launcher dropped her guard while waiting in boredom. Rock Lee slipped into her blind spot and planted a paper bomb right under the rocket itself. Just before the woman could see him in the mirror, he dropped prone and crawled under the vehicle. There, he planted a second paper bomb before rolling out and escaping. At the same time, Shikamaru crawled under a Humvee and put a paper into its vulnerable underside. He crawled out and under another, below the field of vision of the soldiers.

The ninja were quick to do so, since the other soldiers were not gone for long. They had returned with snacks for their friends near the vehicles before driving off. As they left the area, the two ninja followed behind. Once safely away from innocents, they detonated the paper bombs. The rocket's paper bomb was the first to go. The explosion rocked the vehicle, blowing the rocket off of its vehicle and severely damaging but not detonating it.

The other drivers and passengers realized they were under attack and manoeuvred to prepare for a battle. Just then, three more paper bombs went off. The plume of flame caused one of the Humvees to literally shoot into the air, tossing around the occupants as it flipped over and landed on the side. Another flipped over and landed upside down. From a safe distance, the two ninja watched the fireworks as the whole convoy was demolished, one vehicle after the other, by their handiwork.

"Ma'am, our agents report that the Secessionist defences have been broken," reported an underling.

"Good," remarked Misato. "It's time for phase three of the operation. Prepare to bombard the planet once again."

The Empress fleet returned to orbit once again, confident that the efforts of the ninja and other special forces units had disrupted enemy defences. As the ships of the fleet started to circle the planet, missiles and beams started to arise from the surface. Unlike before, the sheer amount of firepower had been reduced to a mere trickle. The Empress ships returned fire, pelting an array of rocket launchers. One by one they exploded, leaving nothing behind but charred rubble and molten metal.

Even with the defences down, the Light Hawk Wings still defended the fleet's main targets, the Secessionist arboretums. They were unique buildings, more like giant oak trees with hollowed out interiors rather than traditional buildings. They were smaller versions of Tenju, the Imperial Palace, especially the tree it resided in. In the heart of each of these trees was a massive pocket dimension. Within these dimensions, the Secessionist trees were rooted to numerous floating platforms, each of which were connected to the others by an array of staircases and platforms.

These arboretums were the primary targets of the Empress Faction. They wanted to plunder them for more trees to replenish its army. So, they launched several ships, which swarmed the planet like locusts. One group landed some distance away from a Secessionist arboretum. Within the ship, a commander showed Sakura, Madison, the DATS team, and Ferio a map of the local region. To the north of their landing site was the arboretum itself. The enemy had taken shelter inside once the Empress fleet started bombardment. When they spotted the invasion coming, the enemy came out to stop them.

Artillery shells rained from the sky, screaming down to the ground before exploding in a massive ball of flame. Landing away from an Empress Faction tank, the missed explosive did no damage, other than getting vehicle soiled by dirt. The vehicle's turret turned toward the enemy and blasted. The turret shuddered with recoil as each blast of energy seared forth. The shots streaked by a distant cannon, exploding harmlessly away as they hit some trees ahead.

Above, aerial Digimon of all kinds soared forth in formation, out on the prowl for the source of the shells. The artillery cannons fired again, causing the Digimon to notice them hidden by the towering trees of a forest. The artillery paused momentarily, inadvertently signalling the Digimon to fire. A Gigadramon, the leader of the pack, unloaded a seemingly endless barrage of missiles from its arm-grafted cannons. The missiles hit all around the cannons, blowing them to pieces. It was now safe for the tanks to advance.

Enemy unit after unit fell, forcing the enemy to give ground back to the arboretum. There, the enemy made their stand. Empress Faction tanks shelled the building non-stop, even as soldiers and cannons returned fire. As the shells struck the enemy line, they left blasts marks all over ground and a Light Hawk Wing barrier formed by the arboretum's trees. A well-placed shell landed in a nearby bunker and blew away several cannon operators. Another shell hit the barrier, causing it to destabilized and break down. The building was now vulnerable.

* * *

Once the dust settled, the Empress Faction had the arboretum besieged. It was cut off from the rest of the Secessionist forces. However, the Secessionists would soon realize what had happened and would send troops to take it back. Since a prolonged battle was not an option, they had to work quickly. The next day, the various Rune-hunting teams met to receive a briefing on the invasion. In a shelter at the Empress Faction's forward base, Shikarmaru sat on one of the seats in the middle of the room.

There was many people there, a hodgepodge of all the military forces from the various worlds that the Runecaptors had gathered. Towards the front were several Juraian soldiers, men and women loyal to Aeka and the Empresses of Jurai. To the left were several soldiers from Coralia, some of which were remnants which had gone underground after the Secessionist takeover. Closer to Shikamaru was his ninja team of Naruto, Hinata, and Rock Lee. To their right were the DATS tamers and the Cardcaptors, Sakura and Madison. In front of them were the Elric Brothers and Gohan.

The meeting continued until Misato give Shikamaru's team their instructions for the assault. "Sakura, your team will enter the arboretum from the sky. The DATS team will fly you over on their Digimon and drop you off on the roof. You will make your way to the heart of the arboretum and enter the tree holding area from the seventh floor. At the same time, Shaoran, your team will come in from the tunnels being burrowed by Digimon. You will make your way to the first floor and enter the tree area from there."

Once the briefing ended, the Runecaptors and Empress Faction mobilized into battle. Beneath the surface of the ground, earthly Digimon were tunnelling away, burrowing an entry hole into the basement of the arboretum. The partially completed tunnels were supported by wooden beams carved from locally cut trees. A network of lights ran down the tunnel, connected to each other and to a generator by electrical wires. A set of rail tracks ran through the tunnel, along which carts ran to remove sifted dirt. At the far end of the tunnel, the Digimon had started an upward incline towards the arboretum basement.

Shaoran approached one of the Digimon overseeing the dig. The mole-like leader had a drill for a nose, a white underside and purple fur on its back. It was a Drimogemon. "So how is the tunnel coming along?" asked Shaoran.

"We're almost through. When we reach the surface we'll end up in a janitor's storage closet. We just need to melt through the metal floor and we'll be in," reported the Drimogemon.

Up ahead, another Drimogemon was sifting away the dirt with its drill nose. After a few more minutes of sifting, the Drimogemon hit a metal object. Announcing this to his team, a trio of Agumon came over and breathed flame upon the metal. The molten metal dripped down and coated the incline. "Okay, the tunnel's open. Head on in," announced the Agumon.

Shaoran's team immediately climbed up the ramp and found themselves in a janitors closet. The room was surprisingly spacious. It was filled with cleaning equipment such as spare brooms, buckets and mop heads. The tunnel was at the far end of the closet near a corner surrounded by shelves of gloves and spare toilet paper. Ichigo surfaced from the tunnel and started helping his teammates up into the room. The team fanned out and took defensive positions around the room.

Very soon after they secured the closet, Empress Faction soldiers started to emerge from the hole. Once their assault teams had surfaced, they stormed out of the closet and started the attack. One of the men spotted a wandering soldier and opened fire. The shots cut the man down quickly, but nearby workers heard the shots. One of them got out a radio and contacted arboretum security. Within moments, the hallways started to fill with flashing red lights and as an alarm klaxon blared to alert the building.

More troops rushed from the other end of the hallway to meet the Empress Faction invaders. A series of gunshots rang out in distant hallways. "We'll take over here," announced the Drimogemon. "Just get to the trees."

"Okay," replied Meilin.

Meilin's team moved out from the closet. The gunshots continued to ring out in distant hallways. It was a very dangerous place right now and they did not want to get bogged down by fighting Yosho's men. The Empress' assault teams had cleared a path to the first floor and had secured it against the arboretum's security. It was an uneventful trip until the group crested a set of stairs and found themselves in a hallway on the first floor. One of the friendly soldiers directed them to the door while his team stood guard outside.

"This way, we'll stand guard outside," informed the soldier.

"Okay, we'll take care of the trees," replied Shaoran.

The guard walked up to the tree area entrance. These doors leading there was actually a set of double doors which curved at the top. They were made of wood and had religious Juraian writing carved into the door's body. Despite being such an advanced civilization, the Juraians had quite a strong spiritual connection to their trees. Shaoran and Meilin could feel a soft sensation emanate from behind the doors. It was the feeling that something ancient awaited them beyond. There was no doubt in their mind that they were in the right place.

When they went inside, they were greeted to the sight of a vast white void. Countless wooden platforms floated around, connected to each other by ornate wooden bridges and ramps. The platform themselves were like pots in concept, each holding enough room for one tree, its soil, and a space to walk on. Some platforms had benches for seating while others had gazebos for their owners. A strong sensation of power filled the air, a feeling of energy radiating everywhere. It was a feeling of serenity, of bountiful life.

"Okay, let's search the area. Make sure it's clear before we send our people in to divert the dimension," said Shaoran.

The team fanned out to search the area for guards or ambushes. They looked everywhere in the pocket dimension, but all they could find were the power trees of the Secessionist Fleets. It was strangely quiet in here, despite how important a location it was. As Ichigo crested a set of stairs to another platform, he spotted something glistening flying towards him. He instinctively raised his zanpakuto to block the object. When it landed on the floor he saw that it was a needle.

The needle was surprisingly long, at least half a foot. It was like the needles used in acupuncture. It was also coated with some unknown, clear liquid which seeped out onto the ground. Ichigo surmised that it was poison. Another came at him, which he deflected before spotting an old man hiding within the branches of the tree ahead. Ichigo immediately whipped a shock wave at the tree, forcing the men to leap away to escape it.

At a nearby platform, Chad turned from the nearby tree to see what was happening at Ichigo's area. Something came out and struck him in the chin, dazing him momentarily. "Chad!" exclaimed Orihime as she saw him take the hit.

A hidden assailant jumped out of the tree's branches and landed on Orihime. As she was got on her knees, the attacker had latched herself onto Orihime's body with arms around her neck. The attacker's skin adhered to Orihime's, causing her victim's skin to become veiny. A stinging sensation raced through Orihime's exposed skin as blood started to seep out of her into the attacker, the Koga ninja Okoi. The gorgeous ninja wrapped her legs around Orihime, now firmly affixed around her body.

"Urrrr..." muttered Orihime as she tried to wriggle free.

"You won't be going anywhere, cutie," mocked the ninja. "I'll drain every drop until there's nothing left but a husk."

"Orihime, I'm coming!" cried Chad. "Hang on!"

A punch came from the tree, striking and dazing him and bloodying his lip. Another came, but this time Chad was expecting it. He quickly backpedalled and caught the arm as he stepped inward. With a burst of strength, Chad yanked out his assailant and judo-threw him onto the ground. It was Gyobu, one of the Koga ninja, and he had the power to meld into surfaces. Gyobu was also quite strong, as Chad had experienced when he took one of the ninja's punches. Despite the ninja's strength, Chad was equally as strong and more than a match.

After getting Gyobu on the ground, Chad kneeled and began hurling rapid punches to the ninja's head. Gyobu winced as the blows hit him, covering his face all the while as he waited for an opening to roll away. Chad prepared a strike with his hollow arm from which Gyobu quickly rolled away. The ninja hopped to his feet, but Chad pressed the offence, hoping to quickly put him away and rescue Orihime. Gyobu threw his a left jab followed by a right hook, but Chad blocked both. He slipped in and caught Gyobu in the gut, where he unleashed a point-blank ki blast. This attack blasted Gyobu all the way into the distance.

Orihime was still down, caught in Okoi's fatal vampiric embrace. Through force of will, Orihime willed her fairies to her, mentally instructing them to encase her and Okoi within a healing shield. Even as Okoi continued to drain blood, the shield reversed the effects, giving Orihime more with which to survive. Okoi continued to drain the blood fruitlessly, becoming bloated and weak in the process. "Damn! Is it that bubble of light that's renewing her blood? I'm reaching my limit!" Okoi cursed mentally.

It wasn't long before Okoi's capacity was reached and she was forced to let go. Okoi jumped off and hurled shuriken at Orihime's temple. The girl, still on her knees, was still too weak to dodge. At the last moment, she had her fairies raise a barrier which deflected the blades. As Okoi landed from leaping away, she felt nauseous and started to vomit blood. Now vulnerable, an unseen ki blast caught her unaware. She was blown off of the platform, sent on a deadly collision course into the void below. Chad, who had fired the blast, ran up to check on Orihime's condition.

"Orihime, are you okay?" Chad asked.

"I'm a little weak, but I'll be okay," she replied.

Meanwhile, Ichigo and the old man, Danjo, continued to trade blows. Danjo hurled a poisoned needle at him, but Ichigo's speed easily let him sidestep it. The two closed and locked weapons, each trying to push the other into a disadvantageous position. Yet, neither could overpower the other. Danjo curled his lips back, in preparation to spit a needle right at Ichigo's face. The soul reaper started to veer away, but the needle grazed his cheek as it passed by. Enraged, he swung his weapon in a hard, decapitating arc, slashing Danjo across the throat. The ninja gurgled as blood poured out and soon collapsed from exsanguination.

Despite his victory, the wound Ichigo had suffered from Danjo was getting worse. The needle had been poisoned and the foul liquid as seeping into his blood, causing the wound to burn. Orihime and Chad came from the other platform to check up on him. "You're hurt! Let take care of that," offered Orihime, who surrounded Ichigo with the healing shield while he sat to rest.

"Thanks Orihime," he replied. "That guy I fought used poison. Some of it got into me when he cut me in the cheek."

"Don't worry, you'll be okay. I'll make sure of that," assured Orihime.

Chad came over to speak to Ichigo. "Sakura wants to know how we're doing," asked Chad.

"Tell her we've got this place, safely. The others are taking care of the rest of these ninja. We've got it," replied Ichigo.

** END OF CHAPTER**


	27. Paradox 3: Remington's Fury

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
****

The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

****

Paradox Rebuffed, part 3: Remington's Fury 

Louie, Christine, and Ronald returned to base empty handed, their target having been stolen from them by the efforts of the Paper Sisters. "You failed?" asked Joker.

"I'm sorry sir, the enemy proved too powerful," admitted Louie. "They had ambushed us and by the time we could rally, several of my men were down."

"Grr... I'd bust you down if I could, but I still need you for more." Joker sighed. "Go to Building 4 in Britannia and guard the Contradiction Rune. Make sure they don't get it as well."

Joker quickly left in a huff, leaving the three agents to themselves. "Well, what can we do?" asked Christine.

The three boarded a car and drove all the way down town to an island just along the coast of the city. It was situated well away from the main city, in the same way that an airport would be. On this island were several arches of varying sizes. At the far end of the island was a military base, separated from the rest of the island by a chain-link fence with barbed wire on top. The base had its own arches, ones which were much larger than the ones in the main area.

Periodically, these arches would form a nimbus of blue light within them. In these nimbuses were images of another location similar to the island, but with a different city skyline. Every once in a while, vehicles would enter the arches. The nimbus flashed brightly whenever this happened and transported the vehicles to Tokyo in Britannia. At other times, new vehicles would pop out of the arches after coming back from business in Britannia. This area was essentially like an airport, only it allowed interdimensional transport between Britannia and Spion.

Louie's car stopped at a toll gate just before the army base. He and his group flashed ID cards, which the soldier confirmed was legit. "We need to get to Lab 4," announced Louie.

"No problem, you can take gate 2 to Britannia," said the soldier.

* * *

A few minutes later, Louie's group found themselves in the more familiar terrain of Britannia. For the three of them, the city of Tokyo in Britannia brought about several memories, both painful and pleasant. All three of them had a lot of history with this city. In all of their cases, events in their past had forced them to leave the city and go into hiding to avoid complications. The three continued down the road until they came up another check point before a new military installation.

The base was much like the other one they had passed through, but this one had a large circular building at the southern side. It was marked with the number "4" and several men and women in lab coats and suits passed through the doors. Like before, Louie and company flashed IDs to the guard. The soldier pointed to a parking lot before Lab 4 where he could leave his car. "Okay this is the place," remarked Louie. "They'll come here sooner and later. We'd better get ready."

As Louie's group got adjusted to their new base of operations, the scientists worked on applying the Rune to their technology. Deep inside the lab laid the Contradiction Rune, embedded on a metal plate. It was on a metal platform, shielded from the outside by metal walls. Behind the wall was a control room filled with technicians. One of them operated a robotic arm to cut out a section of the Rune with a laser. A second robotic arm claimed the sliver of the Rune and contained it safely in a metal box.

In the back of the base was a testing area for new Knightmare Frames for the Britannian army. It consisted of an open hangar filled with Knightmare Frames in the process of being repaired. One had its cockpit and chest compartments open. An engineer ran diagnostics on the controls to ensure proper functioning and fast response time. On the ground below laid the sakuradite power core, removed so that the technicians could effect repairs on it. A second engine-like device rested near it, in preparation to be attached to the core. A technician attached a Runic sliver to this small engine.

A burly blond man in sunglasses and a black long coat approached the technician. "Oh hi Bruno," remarked the technician as he looked up from attaching wires.

"Hey Mark, is that the amplifier?" asked Bruno.

"Yep, it sure is. Once I get this baby hooked up, you'll have a lot of fun with it," replied Mark the technician. "Go have a coffee, it won't be long."

"Okay dude, I can't wait to try it out."

A few minutes later, Bruno boarded the Knightmare Frame and drove it over to a wide testing area. All around the area were several piles of old newspapers gathered from nearby dumps. At the far end of the testing range was a trio of dummy Knightmare Frames, meant to serve as targets. On the word of his commander, Bruno concentrated and telekinetically lifted every piece of paper in all of the piles. Inside, the amplifier, the device with the Runic sliver, hummed softly as the sakuradite core fed power to it. The Paradox sliver glowed softly ensuring that all went smoothly.

In an instant, all of the newspapers rose up as Bruno willed. He sicced the papers at the dummies, slashing and cutting up the targets like a chef dicing food. The first lost an arm and a leg, then became sliced up into pieces completely. For the second, its torso got severed from its hips and legs. For the third, the papers took off the machine's head in one quick, decapitating motion. When the whole incident was done, all that remained of the dummies were severed limbs and dented metal.

"Nice!" remarked Bruno as he surveyed the damage he had done.

* * *

Meanwhile, Michelle came home from grocery shopping for her sisters and friends. As she checked the mail box, she found a letter addressed to them by Remington. "Meet me at the cafe down the street at 4pm tomorrow," read Michelle.

The Paper Sisters came as Remington requested and sat across from him at his booth. "So, have you figured out where this other Rune is?" asked Anita.

"Yep, but it's not in Spion anymore. The Britannian Library has moved it to Lab 4 in Tokyo of Britannia. They've resumed testing and developing new weapons with the Rune. It is imperative that we find it as soon as possible."

"You keep saying that it's important to find it, but why? Why are you so desperate to find it?"

"I fear what may happen if the Britannians continue to experiment on and use the Rune," admitted Remington. "In order to make Spion's technology and special powers compatible with Britannia's, the Paradox Rune must change both of them. It literally has to alter the way your two worlds work."

"Then what will happen to us?" asked Yomiko.

"That is tough to say. I have no idea how the Rune will make the necessary changes. Suffice to say, the transition will not be pleasant, but it is happening as we speak." The Paper Sisters grimaced at Remington's warnings. They were not very reassuring. "The sooner you can find the Rune, the better off everyone will be. For this mission, we're going to make one little change."

"What's that?" asked Anita.

"I will be joining you," said Remington.

Night time fell on the Britannian Lab 4, a research facility for new military technologies. Most of the technicians and scientists had gone to bed, leaving only security personnel to wander the silent hallways. Cameras continued to monitor the halls, hidden behind blackened, globular screens. A lone blonde-haired janitor swiped a mop across the floors of the women's washroom. After a thorough cleaning, the women wiped sweat from her brow. She brought the mop over to a wringer and squeezed it dry.

The janitor pulled out a cellphone and punched in a number. "Maggie, are you there?"

"Yeah, is everything okay, sister?" asked Maggie.

"Yeah, I'm in. Nobody suspects a thing," replied the janitor. "I'm getting ready to do my thing."

The janitor, Michelle, rolled the mop and bucket back to the storeroom. Once inside, she immediately closed the door behind her. After putting her equipment away, she pulled out a set of pointed metal needle heads, which she soaked in a bottle of solution. She screwed the heads onto a set of paper darts and hid them in her pocket. She left the storeroom and immediately travelled to the security room. She pulled out a key and quietly opened the door.

Inside were three guards, all busy at work. Two were monitoring the cameras watching empty hallways and guards patrolling the building. Another was typing something on a laptop computer. Michelle threw the door open and hurled the darts into their necks, too quickly for them to react. The solution seeped into the blood stream of each man. The video watchers slumped over their console, nodding off to sleep near instantly. The typist fell off his seat, unconscious in an heap on the ground.

"Okay, I've taken care of the camera room. It's safe to come in, but watch for other guards," warned Michelle as she retrieved her darts.

The Paper Sisters and allies entered the building and gathered in the security room. "Okay, let's take out the rest of the guards and hide their bodies. I'll stay here and monitor your progress from here," said Remington.

Team Paper moved down several halls, quietly knocking out guards as they went. They travelled down an elevator towards the second basement, in the fortified underground laboratory area of the building. Michelle snuck up behind a guard and hurled a dart to his neck. The guard collapsed instantly. Maggie formed a paper gorilla, which hid the unconscious man behind a set of couches in a nearby lounge. The team moved deeper until they located Area 6, where the Paradox Rune was held.

Area 6 was a wide area with several shielded alcoves for the protection of the scientists during an experiment. At the upper area, a windowed cabin overlooked the floor, allowing scientists to monitor the results of their experiment. A pedestal-like device stood in the centre, on top of which was the Paradox Rune. The Rune was attached to a small metal plate, likely meant to hold it in place. A gun-like robotic arm was pointed at the Rune, perhaps using projected energy to stimulate the Rune's behaviour.

* * *

Meanwhile, Remington watched the infiltration unfold through the computer monitors. He spotted a familiar British man walk down a hallway near the area where the Rune was held. With him was an Indian woman and some people who he did not recognize. Remington zoomed in the man, whose face was looking away from the camera. He spoke into a cellphone eventually turned to bark orders at the Indian woman, at which point Remington got a good view of his face. The man was Joker, head of the Britannian Library!

After hearing her orders, the Indian woman had left the area and returned with several men, all armed with assault rifles and clad in body armour. Before Remington could warn the others, he heard cursing and the sound of metal objects hitting the ground. "Shit, my keys!" came a voice from outside.

Remington got up and used supernatural powers to become invisible. He waited as a guard opened the door and came in. The guard noticed the unconscious men on the ground and went to check on them. The guard called for medical attention for his allies. Remington used this moment to slip out. "I'd better warn them," Remington said mentally as he set out to find a safe location to do so. He ducked into a nearby office, locking the door behind him before calling his friends. No one answered.

At the lab, the two sides had found each other. Joker's guard opened fire on Team Paper, who used the lab's shielding and paper objects as cover. Michelle peeked out from Yomiko's wall and let loose an arrow. It hit a guard, piercing his armour and impaling him through the chest. The men closed ranks on their wounded comrade and focused fire on her. Yomiko raised the barrier to shield Michelle from the retaliatory fire. When the fire died down, Michelle peeked out and let loose another arrow, this time missing her target.

Drake peeked and squeezed out some submachine gun rounds. "We're pinned down. We're sitting ducks here unless we can get to a better position."

Joker and his entourage looked down below from the cabin. One of his men operated the cabin's computers and opened the window. A second man lobbed a grenade out, which landed right behind Team Paper. It burst open, letting out powerful tear gas into their ranks. Team Paper started to cough and their eyes watered as the gas sprayed everywhere. As the gas dispersed, the team members found themselves surrounded by Joker's men, with guns trained on them.

"Drop your weapons and paper where we can see them," demanded Joker over the PA system. "Don't try anything funny or I'll have my men shoot!"

Team Paper surrendered as demanded, allowing Joker's men to handcuff them and lead them away. Joker's men gathered them in the lounge room, where their leader addressed them. "Well, well, well... If it isn't you girls. I wondered when you'd show up. Why do you always keep getting in my way? What do you have against me?"

"You're a monster. You want to rule everyone like some kind of dictator," said Anita. "Don't you understand that we don't want to be ruled by you or the British Empire?"

"Ah Anita, so young and naive," said Joker derisively. "You see, most people are ignorant fools. People like myself exist only to give you guidance, otherwise your own arrogance and stupidity would be your undoing. I'm merely saving people from themselves. Now, we've found allies who share our beliefs who will work with us to achieve a utopia."

"The Britannians?" asked Yomiko.

"Yes, we share the same goals. They understand that our ideals and goals need great power to back them up."

"Hence the Rune," remarked Junior.

"Ah, I see you know about that. I don't know what Remington told you about them or why he wants them, but we'll find out, and you'll tell us everything we want to know about him."

"We're not telling you anything!" snapped Anita.

"Oh really, Louie can be quite persuasive. Take care of them."

"Aye," replied Louie. A red, bird-like symbol appeared in his left eye. "You will tell me everything you know about Clive Remington. I, Louie Cunningham, command you!"

Anita's face suddenly went blank, as though she was in a trance. "Yes, what do you want to know?"

"To start, tell me who Remington is?" asked Louie.

In monotonous voices, Anita and the others answered all of Louie's question. "He is here to collect Runes for another group of people, but he has never told us who he worked for," replied Anita. "He hired us to collect the Runes on his behalf. For this mission, he worked with us until we got caught."

"So Remington is here, in this area?" asked Louie. Anita replied "yes," prompting Joker to immediately send his men to search the building for Remington. "Why does Remington want the Contradiction Rune?"

"He is afraid of what your experiments and usage of the Rune would do to Spion and Britannia," replied Michelle. "The Rune changes fundamental physical laws which govern our worlds. Perhaps he believes that this might be dangerous in some way."

"...Not might be destructive, it WILL be destructive," stated a mysterious voice.

Joker, Louie, and the soldiers looked around for the voice, but were unable to see where it came from. Suddenly, the lounge doors slammed shut and locked on their own, trapping everyone in the room. Before anyone could think of being scared, a blast of lightning struck each of Joker's faceless goons. Joker's Papermaster bodyguard raised up paper barriers which protected himself and Joker's closest entourage from being electrocuted. As his men laid in shambles, Remington shimmered into view.

"You must be Remington," uttered Joker.

"Aye, so we finally meet face to face, Joker," remarked Remington. "I can't believe I listened to every word of that meaningless spiel you uttered to them. Now, I'm turning it around on you. In your lust for power, you and the Britannians have become the ignorant fools. You have no idea what kind of power you possess when you hold the Rune. I'm here to save you from yourselves."

"Bah, we know exactly what we're getting into," decried Joker. "With the Rune, we'll have the power to make Britannia and Spion into a utopia."

"Oh really?" asked Remington, as he materialized a metal plate from thin air. He had stolen the Paradox Rune, plate and all, during the commotion.

"Grrr!" growled Joker, furious at Remington's meddling. "Get the Rune back!"

"You will obey me. I, Louie Cunningham, command it," said Louie, his eye forming the symbol once again.

"That trick won't work on me," dismissed Remington. With a single gesture, a mighty gust of wind overwhelmed Louie, hurling him harshly into the back wall. Louie was too injured from the impact to get up and groaned as he writhed on the ground in agony.

Christine attempted to intervene, reaching for a gun, but suddenly became caged in a bubble of water. No matter what she did, she was trapped inside it, unable to escape for air. Despite being submersed so completely in water, it was not affecting her breathing in any way. She was in no danger of drowning, but nevertheless was terrified. However, the water distorted her voice making it impossible to utter coherent words. Her pleas for help fell on deaf ears.

Now, it was Ron's turn to subdue Remington. A bird-shaped pattern appeared as his eyes turned red. For a brief moment, it was as though time had stood still. Everyone froze, all except for Ron himself. Ron pulled out a knife and approached Remington. Within the blink of an eye, Ron found himself encased in shell of ice, save for his head. He was unable to break free, no matter how much effort he placed into doing so. Remington waved his hand, putting a magical lock on his eyes. Joker, Wendy, and the bodyguard were shocked to see Ron and Christine taken out so quickly and completely.

"I'll admit, your power is even cooler than the first guy's, but tricks like that still won't be enough against me," remarked Remington.

"Yeah!" cheered Anita. "Show them who's boss!"

"Wendy, Bruno, stop him!" demanded Joker.

The bodyguard, Bruno, hurled a mass of papers. They scattered and surrounded Remington like a globe. They stiffened, as though they they were animate razor blades. "He turned the paper into blades," observed Drake. "All he has to do is give the command and they'll slice you to bits."

"It is just like he said. Surrender, or I'll slice you to ribbons!" warned Bruno.

During this threat, Wendy and Joker kept their guns trained at Remington. "Now, Wendy! Shoot him!" cried Joker.

They open fire on Remington, only to find that their bullets were stopped by a shimmering blue bubble of light. It was once invisible, but had been exposed by the impact of the bullets. "He's blocking my shots!" informed Wendy. Rather than waste bullets fruitlessly, they stopped their fire.

"So these things are paper... I wonder what will happen if I burn them?" asked Remington, who proceeded to do just that. Like falling dominoes, each sheet of paper burst into flame, one after the other, too fast for any single person to track. The flames set off the building's sprinkler system, drenching everyone in the room. Bruno attempted to animate more paper, but found his power useless against the soggy sheets. Remington found this fascinating. "I see, so that power doesn't work if the paper gets wet..."

Bruno growled in frustration. Remington levitated a nearby table and hurled it at him. It struck Bruno right between the eyes, knocking him unconscious. It landed on his unconscious form, as though pinning him to the ground. Anita was quite pleased with this turn of events. "Only two more and you got'em!" she proclaimed, to cheer on Remington.

Wendy and Joker opened fire again, but suddenly, their weapons were yanked out of their hands. Wendy, seeing no other option, charged ahead to engage Remington in fisticuffs. She threw the first punch, going straight for a knockout shot to the jaw. Remington seemed to shift to the side, his movements too fast for her to retract her arm. Wendy's eyes widened in horror, realizing that she was vulnerable like a statue in the face of this speed.

Remington extended his arm, chopping Wendy in the back of the head. Her eyes widened in shock and horror and then her vision blurred. She collapsed face first into the ground, where darkness consumed her. Joker saw Remington come his way, but was not fast enough to escape. Remington grabbed him and slammed his head all the way back into the wall behind. The impact knocked Joker out cold. Remington released the man, letting him slump and collapse to the ground.

Remington returned to the captured Paper Sisters and their allies and proceeded to destroy their handcuffs. "We have a lot to talk about once we escape," remarked Drake, after seeing such an immense display of power from his employer.

"I don't know how you did it, but I'm glad you didn't just abandon us," said Yomiko.

"Don't worry, I had no intention of abandoning you," assured Remington. "Think of this as a quid pro quo for everything you've done for me and my employers."

Remington opened a portal into the ground. "Go in, it will take us to safety."

The Paper Sisters and their allies entered with Remington bringing up the rear. They found themselves in a remote cabin somewhere in the Japanese countryside of Spion. It was a literal paradise, the perfect place to relax and get away from the stress of city life. It was Remington's retreat from the cities of Spion, where he could commune with his allies and employers with no disturbances. Joker and the Britannian Library would not find them in such a remote location.

"You'll be safe here while the heat dies down," said Remington.

However, the sisters had many questions of their own. This man, Remington, was clearly not a normal person. He had great knowledge of the Runes and also of the nature of special powers among the worlds. During the rescue, he also displayed superhuman power beyond anything they had ever seen in Spion or Britannia. "Mr. Remington, could you tell me just who you are?" asked Yomiko. "You're not from Spion of Britannia are you?"

"No," replied Remington. "I am originally from another world. Spion and Britannia are not the only worlds which had suffered problems because of the Runes. When the Runes attacked my world and those of my companions, we began a mission to retrieve and reseal them. Our mission eventually brought me to here and Britannia."

"Reseal?" asked Drake.

"Yes, the Runes originally came from a world called Harmonia, which they had destroyed in the distant past. The people of that world had sealed away the Runes, but could not save themselves. We want to prevent such a fate from happening to us and anyone else."

"I see," remarked Drake.

"I believe that you ladies are avid readers, are you not?" asked Remington.

"Yeah, we read a lot," replied Yomiko.

"I noticed a book on Harmonia on your coffee table when I delivered my down payment. The Runes that are mentioned in that book are the very same ones we are dealing with. So you see, the threat is very real," said Remington. He opened a hidden compartment and pulled out a briefcase. He showed Team Paper the money within it, the second part of his payment for their job. "This is the second half of your payment. I hope everything is okay?"

Michelle examined the money, riffling through several wads of bills. "Everything checks out."

"Good, I will take this Rune back for safe keeping. Good bye, Paper Sisters, and stay safe," said Remington, sinking into a portal of light. ** END OF CHAPTER**


	28. Circle 3: Master and Student

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.  
****

The Anime Margin: War of the Runes  
By: RB3 

****

The Circle Broken, part 3: Master and Student 

At the central office of the Runecaptors, Aeka watched video footage of the attack on Coralia. The Empress Faction's ships and Secessionist ships exchanged fire endlessly, with blue beams sailing back and forth between the amassed fleets. In the next scene, Coralia's space defenders fled after being overwhelmed by the Empress Faction. Drop ships descended onto the planet, delivering the forces on the ground which would capture the arboretum for the Empress Faction. On the very last video, Aeka watched video footage of the arboretum interior, where Empress Faction and Runecaptors had secured the premises.

"Major Katsuragi has reported the capture of the Secessionists' Coralian arboretum. The operation was a success," reported Iroh.

"Very good," remarked Aeka. "What about the battle between the Emperor's forces and the Prince's?"

"Very gruelling and taxing for both sides," Iroh replied. "The Secessionists recently repelled an Imperial attack on the Pleiades, one of their major frontal operational areas. The Imperials were routed, losing 70% of the forces used in the attack. However, the Secessionists also suffered great losses, losing 40% of their own fleet. The Secessionists are moving 20% of their forces from Kaital to make up for the deficiency at the Pleiades."

"So, they'll be stretched thin," remarked Aeka.

"Yes, I recommend that we move to attack the Secessionist stronghold in Kaital directly," said Iroh. "In doing so, we can free Yosho and get him to unite his forces with our own against the Imperials."

"Very well, I'll have the Runecaptor forces move out," assured Aeka. "I'll also tell Funaho and mom to mobilize their fleets. This is the opportunity we've been waiting for."

Four days later, a series of portals opened up in the planet Kaital's star system. Points of light illuminated the scanner screens of the men and women monitoring the system for enemy intrusion. They were alarmed by the sheer number and cried out to the rest of the crew. Everywhere, alarm klaxons sounded as military bases and space craft filled with flickering red light. Gunners scrambled to man their cannons while crew members rushed to attend to their stations.

Among the massing forces of the Secessionists was the greatest ship of them all, the Funaho. Named after its owner's mother, the ship was larger and more beautiful than the rest. It had a wooden consisting of four segments, each of which curved around a blue central core area. Each segment tapered to a point, indicating that that was the front portion of the ship. At the rear, the segments were connected to a single circular point and all the segments were joined by a circular ring.

The Funaho, manned by Yosho's most trusted followers, tracked the Empress fleet as it advanced on Kaital. It focused on one specific ship safely protected amongst the fleet, Aeka's own Ryu-oh. It was an older generation ship, one of the most threatening to the Funaho. "The Funaho has locked weapons onto us," announced the Ryu-oh's computer.

"Raise Light Hawk Wings," ordered Aeka.

The ship immediately projected a field of bluish light in space. The field folded around the Ryu-oh, making a protective barrier. Aeka immediately returned fire upon the Funaho. Their beams of energy soared back and forth through space. As they fought, the Magic Knights launched into space from the ship's hangar. The Rune Gods emerged from the ship and swarmed around the attacking ship like bees around a hive.

The ship returned fire on the Rune Gods, but they zipped away, far too quickly for the slow guns to track. In preparation for their attack, Fuu cast Winds of Protection, conjuring fierce winds from the nothingness of space to protect the three. Secessionist fire hit these barriers, but couldn't penetrate them. Umi prepared and hurled the most powerful Water Dragon spell she could muster. The dragon lunged at the ship, piercing the Light Hawk Wing barrier and knocking it to the side abruptly. The ship shuddered and its orientation changed abruptly, hurling the crew around.

Hikaru hurled the most powerful Ruby Lightning spell she could muster. The crimson arcs surged forth and seared molten marks upon the ship, creating weaknesses in its structural integrity. The Rune Gods scattered to allow the Ryu-oh to finish off their foe. Aeka's ship pelted the weakened enemy with every ounce of firepower. The beams ripped into the hull, leaving molten metal in its wake. A devastating shot ripped through the power room, incinerating the ship's power tree. Without the tree, the enemy ship went dead, uselessly adrift in the void.

The Funaho began advancing at the Ryu-oh. "Be careful you three. This one is my brother's ship, the Funaho," warned Aeka over the radio.

"...But if we shoot it down, won't we kill your brother?" asked Fuu.

"My sensors don't detect him on the ship. He must be remotely controlling it from Kaital," replied Aeka. "Don't hold back, throw everything you got at it."

"Roger!" replied Fuu.

The Magic Knights closed on the Funaho, intent on turning it into a smouldering wreck. The ship, realizing their intent, directed its fire onto them. A stream of energy raced past Rayearth, missing her as she weaved through the gun's line of fire. Another gun turned at Hikaru and fired straight at her. Fuu intervened, creating a barrier of air from nothingness. The beam struck the barrier, but had no effect, having been dispersed by the wall.

"Thanks Fuu. Cover me, I'm gonna prepare a big spell," said Hikaru.

"Right!" replied Fuu, who maintained the shield around Rayearth.

The Rayearth stopped as Hikaru gathered magical firepower for her spell. The energy she amassed was so great that Rayearth's body burst into flame, despite the airless void of space. At the peak of her power, Hikaru sent it all at Funaho as a Flame Arrow spell. Empowered by so much magic, it was more like a comet than an arrow. The spell sailed forth and struck a Light Hawk Wing, piercing through it and continuing on to strike the Funaho. The spell seared open a massive hole into its hull, but only at the surface. The crew and Funaho's automated systems started to seal the breach.

"Nice hit! Now, it's my turn!" stated Umi, flying towards the Funaho.

Umi stopped and prepared a spell. The Funaho's weapons locked on to her, but Fuu kept the energy beams at bay with Winds of Protection. Water gathered around Selece, conjured out of nothing but sheer magical power. The water coalesced into a serpentine dragon and lunged forth. It slipped through the opening of the Light Hawk Wing, going straight through into the Funaho's hull breach. The tidal force widened the breach and flooded the interior, throwing the crew about and disrupting their repairs.

Even with such a devastating pair of attacks, the Funaho continued to function. It resumed its firing, hitting the Winds of Protection. The Magic Knights backed away to avoid the Funaho's wrath. "This one's strong," remarked Hikaru.

"I'm closing in," announced Aeka. "Your attacks weakened the enemy. I'm gonna finish her off!"

Aeka moved the broadside of the Ryu-oh over, allowing its cannons a good field of fire. Numerous beams of energy streamed out from them, pelting the Funaho's Light Hawk Wings non-stop. The Funaho attempted to fire back, but several of its cannons had been disabled from the Magic Knights assault. Even as its fought back, the Funaho was not a match for the Ryu-oh and its cohort. The Funaho buckled and its weapons went dead, unable to withstand such a great assault.

"Nice, now that the ship is disabled, I'm going to seize its tree," announced Aeka. "Cover me while my team does the job."

Aeka's Ryu-oh moved closer to the Funaho and within the enemy ship, a group of Empress Faction commandos suddenly appeared in the power tree's room. The room was strewn with the bodies of dead crew, most of whom had been killed by the explosions resulting from Ryu-oh's fire. The team planted several small disc-like objects onto the tree. After placing five in total, the commando leader radioed Aeka, who immediately transported the tree away in a column of light. The commandos disappeared shortly afterwards.

With the tree Funaho secure in her ship's hold, the enemy's flagship had fallen. The commando raid had demoralized the enemy heavily and their numbers dwindle with each ship which went down in flames. With the enemy's planetary defence fleet routed, the Runecaptors and Empress Faction wasted no time in laying siege to Kaital. Missiles descended onto the planet, decimating Kaital's terrestrial defence systems. Silo after silo exploded, until nothing was left but Yosho's palace. All that stood between him and the Runecaptors was the shield.

* * *

Like meteors, Runecaptor ships descended onto the surface of Kaital. With all of their anti-space weapons destroyed, Yosho's forces could not stop the descent of the ships. The Evas emerged from the ship, taking up key positions around the site to defend it from attackers. Several Juraian tanks converged on them, but the Eva's machine guns tore through them like toys. More ships followed the Evas', until all of the Empress Faction's forces were safely on the planet. They had Yosho's palace surrounded and there was nowhere left for him to run.

The Evas shelled the base with beam fire and grenade launchers, but each of their shots impacted a Light Hawk Wing barrier generated by Yosho's tree-like palace After several seconds of futile attacks, the Empress Faction and Runecaptors fell back to a nearby camp and dug in for a siege. Misato looked over several reports from the invading troops. "Hmm, fortified underground by several feet of steel and Light Hawk Wing barriers... impossible to tunnel through," she read the report. "If we can't shut it off, why don't we send someone in to sabotage their shield?"

She contacted Aeka on the radio and reported the situation. "I see... If my hunch is correct, Yosho's palace has a layout much like the Royal Palace of Jurai. It should have a secret exit in case of capture of a siege. The exit usually leads to a secluded place in or near a nearby town. If you can find this exit, you can send your troops in through it."

"I'll have them scan for it immediately."

The Empress Faction began the search for this secret exit. Sakura's team continued the search in the wilderness around the small town of Krim, just south of the Yosho's palace. The woods were thick, filled with dense underbrush and tall trees which nearly blotted out the sky. They soon found a small clearing with a lone cabin situated in the centre. Hinata started to scan into the building with the Byakugan. In its x-ray vision, she saw nothing inside but cobwebs. No one was living or hiding out within the cabin.

As she continued her scan, she noticed that the ground beneath the cabin had been hollowed out. The entrance to this space was from the bedroom, hidden beneath a large chest filled with spare clothing. The space led into a dirt tunnel which ran along the ground to the northeast. In that direction was the siege and Yosho's palace. The tunnel was so long that it was not possible for her to see all the way to the end of it. Hinata told her group about what she had seen and Sakura relayed the report back to her superiors.

"Good," replied Misato. "Begin the mission immediately. Back up will arrive behind you. Good luck."

Sakura's team immediately entered the cabin and located the exit of the underground passage. The tunnel was pitch black, impossible for anyone to see ahead due to the lack of any light. Sakura summoned the Glow Card, immediately calling several spheres of green light into existence. She positioned these spheres around each group member and along the tunnel, lighting their way forward to the palace. They traversed the length of the tunnel until she came to where she reached the Byakugan's range limit.

She scanned ahead again and soon saw Yosho's palace above the ground a distance away. Nearby, the Empress Faction's army laid in wait for any sign of weakness in the shield. The moment they saw one, they'd pounce on the palace like a vulture diving onto carrion. The tunnel continued ahead for several more metres before going upward and ending in a ladder of metal. This ladder ascended into an empty room made from the wood of the great tree which contained the palace.

The room was completely sealed off, save for a moving wall at the end furthest from the steps. Hinata could see into the walls and spotted the mechanism which moved the door hidden behind the walls. The group found themselves in a pantry. Hinata scanned the rest of the palace, seeing many people from guards to palace staff and even Yosho himself in the throne room. She continued to scan and eventually found her target, a room which was under heavy guard, but had an interior which was oddly hollow.

She had heard about this room in the briefing. This room was actually a gateway into the arboretum, a pocket dimension where the trees were kept. Since it was not in this plane of existence, it was not possible to peer into it with the Byakugan. Since she couldn't, they would need to risk going in blind. The outside of that room had two guards flanking the sole doorway into it. More guards patrolled each hallway leading to it, ensuring every line of entry was protected and watched at all times. It would not be easy to get to the arboretum, especially without alerting any guards.

"Sakura, are you there?" asked Misato over the radio.

"Yeah, we're waiting for the order," replied Sakura.

"Tory and Shaoran's team are moving through the tunnel. Start making your way to the arboretum," said Misato.

"Roger, we're moving out," replied Sakura.

Sakura nodded to the others, giving them the signal to move out. Sakura cast the Sleep Card over the kitchen staff, putting them to sleep on the spot. She extended the area of her spell into the mess hall, knocking all of the soldiers and other palace staff out. They gathered the unconscious people into a corner to more easily monitor them. Sakura radioed the situation to Tory and Shaoran, before her group made their way into the hallways.

As they approached the arboretum area, the number of patrols increased sharply. Madison incapacitated a guard with the Thunder Card's electricity, but a second guard wandered over and saw her from behind. "Intruders!" he cried before running to alert more guards.

Hinata pounced on the man and put him down with well-placed blows to his back and head. Despite her dispatching of the guard, the group could hear rustling and clanking metal approaching their location. The other palace guards had heard the guard's scream. "We've got to hurry!" said Shikamaru.

Fortunately, the team only had a short distance left to cover. When they found the guards protecting it, Shikamaru trapped them in a Shadow Possession jutsu. Marcus quickly punched them unconscious. The team ran inside and became greeted by a sight similar to the one Shaoran's team had experienced back in Coralia. Unlike before, this arboretum dimension was filled with Juraian guards who immediately fired at them.

Sakura put up a wall-like Shield and defended her team from the enemy's initial onslaught. Under its cover, her team advanced until they were close enough to split up and strike. Rock Lee jumped over the Shield and onto a branch. Two of the guards followed his movements and turned to correct their aim. Just as they were about to put the crosshairs on him, he moved again, this time behind them. Before they could react, he was punching one in the side of the head, following up with a kick to the other's chin.

Agumon Digivolved into Greymon and peppered the enemy line with balls of flame. The burning enemies scattered chaotically and dove to the ground to put out the flames on their uniforms. The fire spread from the soldiers to one of the power trees, causing its branches to ignite. Nearby, Gaogamon Digivolved into Mach Gaogamon, and rammed into one of the trees. Naruto dropped a soldier with a kunai to the head and closed ranks with Sakura.

* * *

Outside, the Light Hawk Wing barrier surrounding Yosho's palace started to flicker. "The shield is weakening," Misato announced to the Empress Faction forces. "Get ready to break it down and go in."

Shaoran and Tory's group emerged from the pantry and stormed their way through the palace, dropping every guard which encountered them on their way forward. As they came into the great main hall, a shuriken came at Uryu's back. Ichigo sensed danger and swatted the star away with Zangetsu. A group of ninja suddenly descended from their hiding places in the hall rafters. A windy vortex formed near Orihime, who felt agony as it tore at her, trying to drag her in. She was forced to shield herself with the Princess Shielding Flowers.

"These guys again?" asked Ichigo.

"We'll take care of them," assured Shaoran. "Find Yosho. We'll take care of these guys."

"Okay, be careful," said Tory.

Tory's group went to confront Yosho while Shaoran's group stayed behind to keep the ninja at bay. They pass through the lengthy hallway until they came upon the grand throne room. At the other end was Yosho, protected by four of his most competent, loyal bodyguards. They were like Azaka and Kamidake, who guarded Tenchi's home. The bodyguards were log-like entities which were inhabited by the spirits of powerful and loyal Juraian knights.

"Grandpa, we've come to take the Rune back. If you just give us the Rune, this would be easier on all of us," recommended Tenchi.

"I can't do that," replied Yosho. "The Rune has shown me the corruption in the Juraian Empire. Someone must root out this corruption and destroy it, and I'll be the one to do it. If you interfere, you are my enemy too, Tenchi."

"Ah, screw the tough talk. Let's just smack him around and take the Rune from him," said Ryoko.

Yosho's bodyguards advanced on the party, seeing that they were not going to back down. Ed and Al alchemically altered the ground, trapping them in shells of wood and cement. The guards blasted the traps open, having expanded their personal barriers to burst through it. One of them made a beeline for Ryoko, trying to ram her with its body. Ryoko teleported away and fired a shot into its exposed back. The "log knight" suddenly raised a barrier to absorb the hit.

Tenchi and Yosho crossed swords, with him parrying his grandfather's blade as it came down for a lethal slash. The two locked weapons and pushed against each other, hoping to overpower the other to gain the advantage. Yosho, gathered his strength and in a burst of power, hurled Tenchi away. The prince righted himself and dug into the ground to stop himself from being pushed back. Yosho hurled a bolt of light blue energy, which Tenchi blocked with a Light Hawk Wing.

Tory took this opportunity to sic the Mist Card upon Yosho. The foul green, corrosive haze set around the Secessionist leader, hissing as it burning away wood and stone. Yosho surrounded himself with a Light Hawk barrier which warded the gas. As Tory prepared to summon the Light Card, a wave of energy fanned out from Yosho's Circle Rune. Tory's casting suddenly halted, as though something was interfering with his channelling of magical power.

"He's doing it again," said Tory.

Yosho immediately hurled an energy bolt at Tory, who tried to dive away to avoid being hit. The explosion hurled him into the ground with greater force than anticipated. "If he keeps this up, we're done for," stated Tenchi. "I'll hold him off 'til your magic comes back."

"Don't worry, I came prepared for this. Just keep doing what you're doing," said Tory. Tenchi charged at Yosho. During the exchange, Yosho parried each blow, but Tenchi proved to be too tenacious. Being overwhelmed, Yosho unleashed a point-blank energy blast, sending Tenchi onto the ground. As Yosho prepared to go for Tory, Tory had hurled a Fire Rune splinter pulled out of his pocket.

It crackled and burst into flames which engulfed Yosho. The Secessionist Prince covered himself as they lashed at the barrier his Light Hawk Wing had made for protection. Yosho grimaced in frustration. As Tory reached for a new splinter, Yosho invoked the Circle Rune, causing it to glow white. The splinter left Tory's hand and hit the Light Hawk barrier, doing nothing. Unfazed, Yosho blasted energy, which Tory narrowly raised a Shield just in time to to take. It pierced through and sent Tory onto the ground.

As Tory got onto one knee, Yosho fired another blast. This time, Tory put up the Mirror Card. The blast hit the Mirror and immediately turned around and travelled back at Yosho! The Prince saw his own attack returning and invoked his Rune. Only this time, something was jamming its power. This momentarily delay cost Yosho dearly and he went crashing into the ground. Yosho was stunned. "Why isn't the Rune working?" he wondered mentally as he got up.

Tenchi exploited this momentary lapse of attention and charged Yosho. Before the Secessionist could react, Tenchi had impaled him and forced him to a nearby wall in the throne room. Tory casually got upright, dusted himself off, and approached. "In order to stop my splinters from working, you had to negate the power of all Runes, including your Circle Rune. That was your mistake. You've effectively locked your own Rune and without it, you're no more powerful than any of us alone. You lose," stated Tory.

Tory held the capsule aloft, directing it at the Circle Rune on Yosho's forehead. It peeled off painfully, unwilling to be removed from its host. Try as it might, Yosho was too wounded from the battle to have any strength left to draw upon. The Rune snapped off, yanked directly into the capsule's entrapping embrace. Tenchi removed his weapon and Yosho slumped to the ground. With the Rune imprisoned, its power over the Secessionists was broken. Every soldier, every ship belonging to this faction suddenly stopped in their tracks.

"They've stopped attacking," remarked Misato as she read the computer readouts.

"We've won!" announced Sakura over the radio. "Tory's got the Rune."

"Yeah!" cheered various Runecaptors from Asuka to the Magic Knights of Cephiro.

"We've secured the Rune, but we wounded grandpa," reported Tenchi. "He needs a doctor immediately!"

** END OF CHAPTER**

** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Circle Rune **  
Domain: Law, Order  
Duality: Organization versus Stagnation  
Appearance: White Circle  
Powers: can forbid the use of certain power types of the bearer's choice

Description:  
This Rune was once borne by Hikusaak, the late ruler of Harmonia. It represents law and order, a Rune befitting the ruler of a great empire. However, its extremely organized nature leads to the prevention of needed change and reforms, causing stagnation. This aspect afflicted Harmonia during its later years, leading to more frequent defeats in wars against rebellious nations.


	29. End: The First and the Last

Disclaimer:  
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:  
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.

**The Anime Margin: War of the Runes**  
**By: RB3**

**End of an Empire: The First and the Last**

After Tenchi's victory over him during the invasion of Kaital, Yosho had been bedridden. A bright light filtered into his eyes as the fluorescent hospital light shone down upon him. As Yosho awoke, he was greeted by the roof of the sterile hospital. Yosho sat up and the covers fell down, revealing a set of bandages covering the area where Tenchi had stabbed him. He remembered what happened. Tenchi-ken had seared a hole clean through his abdomen, damaging his internals severely. However, since medical help came for him almost immediately, he survived his wounds.

A Juraian nurse rushed in upon noticing him. "Prince Yosho, you must rest. You have been severely wounded from your battle at Kaital."

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in the Runecaptor Hospital on the planet Harmonia in the No-Man's-Land," replied the nurse. "Please lie down and get some rest."

Yosho reclined on the bed as the nurse finished her chores and returned to perform further duties. A few minutes later, Tenchi and his friends came into the room to visit their friend Yosho. "Hey Grandpa, how are you?" asked Tenchi.

"Tenchi! I'm fine, it looks like the doctors took good care of me," replied Yosho, looking down at the bandages. "I'll be back up before you know it."

"I've made a nice lunch for you," said Sasami, opening a box filled with sushi and salad.

"Oh, thank you Sasami. This meal will help rebuild my strength," replied Yosho, who began to sample a piece of tuna sushi.

"Yosho, I wish to speak about your Secessionist forces," said Aeka. "After the fall of Kaital, their forces had surrendered to us. I was hoping that you could lend your men to us. We're planning on invading Jurai very soon and it would help us greatly."

"Of course, I will place my troops under your command," assured Yosho. "We must stop the Emperor. The Sovereign Rune has made him into a tyrant and we need to do whatever its takes to free him."

After several days had passed, Yosho had recovered enough to walk. Aeka brought him over to the offices of the leaders of the Runecaptors to discuss strategy on how to take Jurai. Now that the Empress Faction had assimilated the forces of the Secessionists, they were on a more equal footing with the Imperials. Iroh examined the holographic planetary maps of Pucella and Jurai as Aeka operated the controls to a projector. Both planets were heavily guarded, but Pucella's defences had fewer icons, suggesting a weaker defence by the Imperials.

"Although we need to liberate Pucella as well as Jurai, I wish to reserve the majority of our forces for Jurai," stated Iroh. "If we can strike at the heart, we can end this war immediately."

"Father's planetary defences are the strongest we've encountered yet. Do we have the forces to take him on head on like that?" asked Aeka.

"We're still slightly weaker, so a head-on attack is ill-advised. I propose that we instigate a rebellion on Pucella and overthrow the Imperial viceroy. This will prevent a significant portion of the Emperor's fleet from reinforcing Jurai. Other rebellions are keeping the Imperials busy in Juraihelm, so the only fleet that could reinforce the capital is from Pucella," informed Iroh.

"Okay, we have some people from Pucella in our ranks. I'll send in Shaoran's group," said Aeka.

* * *

After meeting with Aeka, Shaoran's group had formulated a plan with her and Iroh. The Hime who had joined the Runecaptors, Mai, Shizuru, and Midori, had stayed in contact with their only surviving friends from the battle with Azusa. The corrupted Hime and the Otome were viciously putting down any resistance to those who dared to resist Pucella's viceroy. Arika and Nina, the only ones left, were outnumbered against their former friends and had gone into hiding.

Mai led the group to a coffee shop under the cover of disguises. The streets were crawling with Imperial guards and police. A police car drove by, scanning the streets for criminals or rebels planning on going up against the occupation. The viceroy had placed the planet under martial law, enforcing a strict curfew. The coffee shop was a dark atmosphere with a set of sofas near the back for the customers to lounge in. The proprietor operated a machine which filled a cup of coffee for a customer.

Mai walked to the cashier. "I'd like a large mocha latte please with two spare cups for my friends."

The cashier took Mai's money and turned to the machine to fill her order. A whiff of strong, fragrant coffee filled the air. After receiving her order, Mai took a sip from her cup. As she went to fill the empty cups for her friends, she found a rolled up piece of paper in one of them. The paper had a message which read "go to apartment 201, at 11 Sakura Street." After sharing her drink with Midori and Shizuru, Mai motioned to the others, seated at different tables. "When you're done, meet us outside."

Mai led the rest of the team over to the address listed on the secret message. She knocked on the door and the occupant cautiously looked out through a peephole before opening the door. "Mai! I'm so glad to see you!" said the occupant, Arika.

"How have you been doing? Are you okay? You aren't hurt are you?" asked Mai, as she hugged Arika and then Nina.

"We're fine. We've had quite a few close calls, but we managed to get away each time. Come in," offered Arika. "These are the people who broke the spell on you, I presume?"

"Yes, they're members of the Runecaptors, the people I told you about," replied Midori. "After we were mind controlled, we were sent to a drug operation on another planet where our new friends fought us. They broke the Rune's control over us and we joined them."

The members of Shaoran's group each gave out introductions to the Otome. "Shaoran, are you the only help we're getting?"

"Pretty much," replied Shaoran. "Most of our friends have gone after Azusa himself."

"We're only here to keep the Juraians busy so they don't get in our friends' way," informed Meilin. "The Hime are their best fighters. If we break the Rune's control, the Juraians will fall."

"I see," replied Arika.

"Where are they now?" asked Ichigo.

"They just finished taking over eastern Russia, so they should be coming back to rest at the Juraian arboretum. It's just to the north of here. You can't miss it," replied Nina.

"Let's pay them a visit," suggested Ichigo.

The Runecaptors, now two members stronger with Arika and Nina, travelled northwards to where Nina had indicated. The Juraian arboretum was like all the others, a massive tree which towered over the city. The tree rivalled many skyscrapers in size and stood as a monument to Juraian power in that area. A sparkle of light, like a miniature star, rose from the arboretum and ascended all the way to the heavens. It was a ship which launched from the tree.

"Four of our friends, Natsuki, Mikoto, Yukino, and Shiho are there," informed Arika.

"Yeah, I remember the briefing for this mission," replied Uryu.

"Hide!" whispered Nina.

The Runecaptors took cover behind the walls near the windows of the hotel they were hiding in. A young girl with pink pigtails flew by. She was dressed pure white and rode atop a giant mechanical crow with a single leg. The creature's spaded tail gave it an appearance like that of a devil. Fortunately, the girl had not seen them spying on her from the hotel. When the area was clear, the Runecaptors came out from hiding and continued to watch her.

"That was Shiho Munakata, wasn't it?" asked Uryu.

"Yeah, that was Shiho," confirmed Mai. "That means the others are nearby too."

"Does she fly by here like this all the time?" asked Uryu.

"Yeah, she's always like this," replied Arika.

"I see... I think we can use this our advantage," suggested Uryu.

* * *

Shiho continued to fly around the area, scouting for any potential threats to the Juraian Empire's control. As she circled around a group of empty apartment buildings, a bolt of blue energy sailed right at her! She made Yatagarasu veer away and turned around to face her attacker, Arika. "There you are!"

Arika immediately fled deeper into the abandoned residential zone as Shiho gave chase. Yatagarasu was quite fast and kept up quite easily as Arika raced down the street with Otome-enhanced speed. Arika turned a corner and screamed past a pair of tall apartment buildings. She turned around and fired at Yatagarasu, who banked to the left, dodging it easily. It dove down after Arika in retaliation as she ran further past the apartments.

From the roof of one of the buildings, Chad watched the chase unfold. Yatagarasu followed Arika all the way until it was between the buildings. Suddenly, Rukia came out of the doorway of Chad's building and raised a column of icy air under Yatagarasu. The air was so cold that it froze the ground instantly, reaching all the way up to Yatagarasu's leg and encasing portions of its body in ice. The ice ultimately immobilized the Child, prevent it from getting away.

At that moment, Chad leapt from the roof and landed behind Shiho. With a quick motion of his hand, Chad struck her in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious. Without its mistress to control and maintain it, Yatagarasu vanished without a trace. Chad quickly picked up Shiho and landed on the ground. Shaoran quickly moved in and sucked the Sovereign Rune sliver into a capsule. Despite being freed from a Rune, Shiho remained unconscious, still unconscious from Chad's sneak attack.

"So good so far," remarked Mai. "The others will come here looking for her soon. We'd better be ready."

The Hime and their Runecaptor allies hid in the area while they awaited the arrival of the remaining Hime. The remaining Hime appeared in the area, just minutes afterwards, hoping to learn what had happened to their friend. They came across the apartment buildings where the Runecaptors and Shiho had battled. There were scorch marks on the ground, which were the result of energy blasts hitting the ground. The three turned to each other, nodded, and fanned out to search for any clues as to what might have happened in the area.

Natsuki, the blue-haired one, noticed a gorgeous girl in a purple kimono walk into a house. It was Shizuru Fujino, her lesbian lover. She raced in to follow Shizuru and capture her, but when she entered the home, she found nothing inside. She then heard running water coming upstairs and ran up to catch her. When she tracked the sound to a bedroom, she kicked the door open and burst in with guns drawn. She found Shizuru, standing in the middle of the room.

Shizuru, turned around and smiled seductively. She immediately disrobed, her kimono dropping to the floor and leaving her completely naked. Natsuki was stunned. "Welcome darling, I've been waiting for so long... No one will bother us. We have all day and all night."

Shizuru slowly walked up to the stunned Natsuki and put her arms around her in an embrace. She pulled Natsuki into a deep kiss as she slowly guided her towards the nearby bed and lowered her onto it. Shizuru climbed on and leaned forward into a deep kiss. Natsuki was in heaven, as she took in the desire of her lover. Whatever happened next was a blur and she lost all track of time as she stayed in Shizuru's loving embrace.

Shaoran, Meilin, and Shizuru entered the room, seeing Natsuki asleep on the bed with a grin on her face. A nimbus of iridescent light, the shape of a woman's body, was on top of her, as though it was sleeping against her chest. "What is she seeing?" asked Shizuru.

"The Illusion Card shows her what she desires the most," replied Shaoran.

"No kidding," replied Shizuru, upon noticed the familiar, feminine shape of the Illusion Card on top of Natsuki. She then smirked. "After this is over, I'm going to make sure she gets the real thing."

Meilin brought a capsule to Natsuki's forehead and removed the sliver of the Sovereign Rune. "All done!" she chirped cheerfully.

Elsewhere, Yukino walked past a primary school. The school was a typical brick building enclosed by a fenced perimeter and a front gate which led directly to the school's main doors. It was quiet and abandoned from the martial law imposed on the area by the Juraians, who had forced everyone to leave the area. Even using the spores of her plant-like Child, Diana, to scan the area, she could not find anything that would suggest Shiho's fate.

Just then, she noticed Uryu in one of her mirrors, preparing to shoot her in the back! She immediately dodged the arrow and turned around. She sicced Diana upon him, who lashed out with a vine-like feeling and snatched Uryu off of the roof of the school. "Trying to shoot me in the back? You're such a dirty coward! Diana knows how to deal with you!"

As she prepared to deliver the death blow to Uryu, Diana suddenly became encased in ice, unable to act any further. The icy vine holding Uryu shattered and he landed safely on the ground. He prepped a second arrow and fired it at Yukino, who dodged quickly. Rukia hurled ice, which Yukino suddenly saw coming out of the corner of her eye. She ducked forward, narrowly evading that attack at the last second. As she turned to face Rukia, something struck her from the right with great speed, sending her onto the pavement. She only caught one glimpse of her attacker, Ichigo, before his final blow knocked her out.

"That's two," remarked Uryu.

The last Hime, Mikoto, charged at Orihime and brought her massive sword down, only to connect with a triangular barrier. The barrier was too powerful for her break through, no matter how much strength her small frame could muster. She smashed her sword on the ground, opening a black vortex beneath her foe. Orihime quickly leapt away to avoid it sucking her in. At that moment, Chad unleashed a powerful ki blast, which Mikoto spotted just at the edge of her peripheral vision.

She turned and raised her weapon to parry the attack. It struck with such tremendous force that she had to dig into the ground hard to avoid being swept away. Chad jumped over a bush and closed, coming in with a power-packed punch. Mikoto blocked once again, and held firm against the onslaught of punches Chad unleashed on her. She saw an opening and swung hard for the head, but Chad ducked. Mikoto threw a chop, but Chad rolled away safely. Chad immediately shot in for a tackle which carried Mikoto all the way to the side of a brick house.

"Argggh!" gasped Mikoto as she hit the wall and dropped her sword.

As Chad released Mikoto and backed off, the others approached the area, seeing Mikoto vulnerable on one knee. Shaoran held out a capsule, which dragged the Sovereign sliver from her head and trapped it within its confines. Mikoto fell forward. The sudden loss of the sliver's power drained the last her stamina. "Mikoto, are you alright?"

"Mai!" gasped the breathless girl. She was clearly elated to see her, but noticeably too fatigued to pounce on her.

"Having the sliver removed took a lot out of her," admitted Shaoran. "She'll fine after some rest."

"At least that's over with," said Rukia.

"Yeah, all we have to do is to free the rest of the Otome from slivers," remarked Ichigo. "We got rid of the strongest ones today so it should be smooth sailing from here."

* * *

The battle at Jurai had started with a bang. The ships of the former Secessionist Faction pelted the Imperial fleet, riddling them with beams of energy. From the surface, launch pads raised missiles upward to the sky. The missiles took off with a hiss and a trail of white smoke in their wake. They ascended the heavens to outer space, striking one of Yosho's ships. It exploded in a flaming plume visible for miles around. They were visible even on the surface of Jurai.

On the surface, a portal of shimmering light opening in the wilderness away from an array of Jurai's surface to space defences. Emerging from this opening between worlds was Sakura's team, intent on eliminating the defences of Jurai. "More missile launchers for us to destroy. We are getting good at this!" remarked Rock Lee.

"Heh heh, those Juraians won't know what hit'em," chuckled Naruto.

"Fan out, Sakura, Madison, you go to the left. My team will go right. Marcus, you're going straight ahead," said Shikamaru.

The teams split up and soon came face to face with the enemy. Agumon Digivolved all the way to Rise Greymon, while the Digimon of his companions assumed their Ultimate forms. He marched straight on ahead, drawing fire from several Juraian soldiers. Their meagre weapons had no effect on the giant dinosaur. Rise Greymon merely bombarded them with orange energy bolts fired from his revolver arm. Each hit exploded with tremendous force, flinging the soldiers around like rag dolls.

"The way is clear. Your move, Thomas," said Marcus.

Thomas ran ahead to a radar station situated amidst the missile silos along the surface. He hurled lightning at several soldiers coming his way, shocking them into unconsciousness. He soon reached the control room, where he electrically incapacitated all of the people operating the launchers. He immediately sat at the nearest console and typed away in an attempt to alter the firing program. His efforts proved successful, giving him video feed of the battle in space.

The Imperials were fighting a gruelling battle with his side. One of their ships went down from Empress Factions fire, just as they shot down one his team's ships. After typing some more, a targeting reticule appeared on one of the Imperial ships. After some more typing, missiles shot out of the launchers going straight for the Imperial ship. The missiles hit the ship so suddenly that the captain had no time to react before his ship was blown to pieces.

"What the hell?" asked one of the others captains.

Another missile struck an Imperial ship, blowing a second ship into smithereens. "That missile came from the planet!" reported another officer.

A third missile came at the fleet, homing into the nearest ship and wasting it. "Someone has hacked into our defences! Stop them!" cried a second ship captain.

"The Empress Faction has captured one of our firing stations. Shit! The enemy's breaking through our lines!" cried a third captain.

* * *

In space, the Emperor's ships exploded one after the other in bursts of brilliant flame. As the enemies dwindled in number, the Empress Faction soon had the planet of Jurai surrounded. Drop ships rained down on Jurai's surface, bringing the Runecaptor's ground forces to bear. As a shuttle landed on a vast plain, countless soldiers swarmed out, like ants leaving their colony in search of food. From the opposite end, Azusa's forces charged down the plains.

When they met, bolts of energy sailed forth between the two. Screeches filled the air, moments before deafening explosions rocked the battlefield. An Empress Faction soldier ducked under a rocky outcropping moments before decapitating energy beams sailed by overhead. He peeked out and let loose several shots of his own. Several shots came racing back from the enemy line. Before the soldier could duck, one seared through his head. He stumbled backwards before falling onto the ground.

At the Imperial Palace within the great tree Tenju, an informant addressed Azusa. "Your majesty, the Hime have gone out to meet the enemy. If..."

Before the man could finish, some screaming came from behind the front door of the throne room. Seconds later, the doors burst open from a massive explosion. From the ruins walked in Tory, followed by Ryoko, Tenchi, and Aeka. "They're already in my palace?" asked Azusa, jumping from his seat.

"This ends here, father," said Aeka. "The power of the Runes is not for us to use. Let us reclaim the Rune and we will leave peacefully."

"Never!" said Azusa. "With the Rune, I will create an invincible Jurai under my rule. With the Sovereign Rune, even Tsunami and the Chousin are powerless before me. What hope do you have? Kneel before me, and I might spare your lives."

"No father, we will put an end to this, no matter what it takes," assured Aeka.

"Very well, feel the power of the Sovereign Rune!"

Azusa made a fist, revealing the crown-like Sovereign Rune on the back of it. The Rune glowed with a golden glow as a similarly coloured ghost superimposed over his body. The ghost was a dragon-like creature with a trio of heads all bearing emblems of the Sovereign Rune. The dragon-like creature let out a massive roar which resounded for miles around. One of the heads turned to the group and spewed a raging torrent of flame.

Aeka immediately raised a log barrier to weather this attack. "This is the Sovereign Rune's ultimate power, Draconian Supremacy. It turns its user into a three-headed dragon," said Tory. "The Sovereign Rune can also shut down the power of other Runes. We have to rely on our own abilities to beat him."

Tory teleported away from Aeka to the side of the golden dragon. He immediately brought out the Earthy Card, conjuring a massive earthquake beneath Azusa. As the other heads came together to concentrate fire, the shaking ground broke their formation. The first head veered away sharply, its flame jerked to the right and seared down a pillar. Unable to keep his balance, Azusa ceased breathing fire in an attempt to regain his balance. He immediately backed away to reach more stable ground to resume his attack.

He immediately swung his tail, catching Tory and hurling him into a side wall. On impact, he had cracked the wall and laid slumped against it. Despite such a powerful blow, he eventually started to recover and get up. In the meantime, Azusa turned his attention to Aeka, spewing flame. She promptly raised a log barrier to weather this searing onslaught. The flame was intense and came on as a vicious, seemingly endless torrent.

While he was distracted with Aeka, Tenchi charged in the from the flank. One of the heads noticed him and exhaled a blast of lightning. Tenchi stopped his charge and used the Light Hawk sword to block the electrocuting blast. Like the flame, the sheer amount of power in the blast was immense. Tenchi strained himself to maintain his guard in the face of this onslaught. Ryoko used their attacks as distractions to teleport near the fire-breathing head and drive her energy blade into its back.

The dragon screeched in agony. Ryoko dug the weapon deeper inside and making a sweeping arc, she had severed the head. Burning blood started to erupt from the opening, which she immediately escaped by teleporting away. "That was close!" she remarked, wincing in pain from having her hands singed.

Suddenly, the lightning head roared. The burning blood from the severed head reshaped itself into a head. They immediately took on a solid, flesh and blood form, restoring the head to its original condition. "Oh great..." remarked Gohan.

"We have to get rid of the lightning-breathing head. It's the one that revives the others," informed Tory.

"Easier said than done," remarked Ed. One of the heads turned his way, preparing to breathe upon him. He immediately formed a wall of marble before him as a defence. "Gohan, I'll cover you. Get ready!"

"Right!"

Ed immediately touched the floor, applying the crimson alchemical glow upon it. The ground started to shift and form around Azusa's legs, holding them in place. The emperor suddenly found his advance strangely halted and tried to move his legs, but found them being impeded. As he looked down to find out what was causing it, this momentary lapse of attention was all the opening Gohan needed. He immediately flew behind the dragon and send a ki blast right into the lightning head's back. It seared the head clean off. Azusa roared in pain.

"Wonderful!" cheered Aeka.

Suddenly, the fire head turned to Gohan and breathed flame upon him. It caught him off guard and engulfed body painfully. Gohan screamed in agony as he fell out of the air, still ablaze with the enemy's flame. Tory teleported next to him to check on his condition. He immediately applied the Aesculapian Card, which bore the symbol of a single snake entwined around a staff. Gohan glowed with a wholesome, rejuvenating white light as his burns started to heal.

"I'll get Gohan to safety," assured Tory. "I'll be back shortly."

Tory and Gohan immediately vanished in the blink of an eye. "Even with Gohan down and Tory away, we can still win this one. We've got one of the heads down. Only two to go," encouraged Al.

"I can keep father busy," offered Aeka. "Look for an opening and destroy the other heads."

The heads immediately reared back and exhaled blasts of ice and flame. The flames rushed at Aeka, who raised a log barrier to shield the brothers Elric. The ice went straight for Tenchi and Ryoko, with Tenchi forming a Light Hawk barrier to protect himself and the space pirate. The elemental blasts were so intense that they threatened to blow them away, despite being blocked. From behind cover, Ryoko hurled bolts of energy, which the golden dragon largely ignored, despite taking full contact hits to the head.

Ed and Al plunged their hands into the floor, alchemically reshaping the ground under Azusa. The random movement threw his footing from under him, forcing him to stop breathing ice and fire. Tenchi rushed in during Azusa's brief moment of disorientation. Suddenly, Azusa recovered and slammed his fire head into the Juraian prince. Tenchi went flying back, but righted himself and landed on his feet. The third head, the ice head, immediately turned to Al and breathed upon him.

The alchemist became trapped in a cage of ice. He couldn't break out no matter how much effort he put into breaking the prison. With his arms immobilized, he couldn't perform alchemy to transmute the ice into something less confining. "Al!" cried Ed. "Cover me. I'm going to free him!"

The fire head turned to Al and exhaled flame just as Ed approached. Aeka extended her barrier over to protect him, but since they were further away, it was difficult for her to reinforce it. Ed quickly transmuted the ice into tissue paper and ripped Al out of the prison. They immediately fled behind Aeka, who retracted the extended barrier to reinforce her own. "Are you okay?" asked Aeka.

"Yes," replied Al. "That didn't go over so well. Azusa's catching on to our tactics. We have to do better to distract him."

"Al and I aren't good at doing any damage to him. The best we can hope for is to distract or pin him down," remarked Ed. "I know, get him to go after Tenchi. I have an idea."

The heads immediately reared back and breathed torrents of elemental power upon the team. Again, Aeka, Ed, and Al raised barriers to weather this onslaught. During Azusa's attack, Tenchi moved to the flanks and attempted to charge into close quarters. Azusa's fire head noticed him coming and lunged at Tenchi. However, the Juraian prince was ready for this counter attack and stopped his advance to block. Ed saw the moment he was waiting for and alchemically transmuted the ground.

A marble hand reached out from the floor and snatched the dragon's neck. Despite efforts to escape, the hand was too strong to shatter and its grip was too firm to wriggle out of. The ice head lunged at Ryoko, who was trying to come in from a different flank. Instead, she teleported away, right behind the trapped fire head. The ice head, too far away to help, could do nothing as Ryoko plunged her blade into the fire head's neck. The head went clean off, leaving only the ice head remaining.

Ryoko teleported back to regroup with the others. Like before, she was wincing in pain from having her hands burnt from the fire head's burning blood. "Are you okay?" asked Ed.

"I'll be fine. I heal fast," replied Ryoko.

At that moment, Tory returned to the throne room to help his companions. "Tory, you're back!" remarked Aeka.

"Yep," he replied. "Gohan will be okay. I left him in an infirmary in one of our camps. He'll be better after some rest."

"Father only has one head left. Even though weakened, he'll be more desperate than ever. He'll pull out all the stops to win," said Aeka.

Tory hurled bolts of flame at the last surviving head, the ice head. The flames seared at the dragon, but only served as a minor nuisance rather than a serious threat. The head reared back and sprayed ice upon the group, turning its head in an attempt to cover the entire room. The team immediately raised barriers to block the freezing cold, rather than become frozen like Al was before. When the dragon ran out of breath, Ryoko and Tenchi closed in.

Ryoko teleported behind the last head, but before she could do anything, Azusa turned around. Due to the confines of the room, he had smashed down the walls of the palace in his effort to face Ryoko. He snapped his teeth at Ryoko, who teleported away to escape being bitten. As Ryoko rejoined the others, she noticed debris falling from the roof. Azusa immediately slammed against the walls, this time deliberately trying to damage them.

"What's he doing?" she asked.

"He's trying to bring down the palace on top of us. We have to get out!" cried Aeka.

"I'll teleport us out. Get close to me!" cried Tory.

The group immediately vanished from the room just before Tenju's roof collapsed upon them. As they appeared outside, a massive cloud of dust appeared at the great Royal Tree. Azusa bolted out of the palace, landing on the ground with an earth-shaking thud. Azusa hurled sphere of ice towards the heavens. Aeka summoned Ryu-oh's viewing monitor and saw the ice hit and destroy several of her faction's ships. They immediately lost orbit and descended onto Jurai like meteors.

Just then, a bolt of energy descended from the heavens. It struck Azusa square in the back, causing him to screech in pain. The beam came from the Tsunami, Sasami's ship, in orbit around Jurai. Azusa immediately turned upwards and spit several boulders of ice up to the heavens. In space, the ice streaked by until one caught Tsunami's Light Hawk Wings. The ship shuddered with the immense impact. Another tore through the Light Hawk Wings and dented the ship's hull. A third came forward and tore off one of its thrusters.

Tsunami started to lose orbit and fall to the surface. "Sasami!" cried Aeka, as she watched the Tsunami descend in Ryu-oh's viewing screen.

In the distance, the ship exploded in a plume of flame. "Aeka, we can't worry about Sasami now. We have to finish this. Azusa will only get worse if he continues on like this," said Tory.

"Okay, take us there," said Aeka.

Tory immediately teleported over to where Azusa was rampaging across Jurai. The moment they appeared, Tory hurled a bolt of lightning upon the last remaining head. The dragon, now weakened by Tsunami's assault, recoiled forward in pain. "I've got him on the ropes. Finish him!" cried Tory.

Aeka immediately surrounded the last remaining head in a field of logs. They arced electrical bolts which stunned it, preventing Azusa from launching any counter attacks momentarily. Tenchi ran up and hopped onto Azusa's back. With one mighty, sweeping swing, he had severed the dragon's final head from its body. Bolts of lightning arced from it randomly, causing Tenchi to flinch in pain as they touched him. The spectral dragon writhed in agony, throwing Tenchi off. Ryoko teleported over and retrieved Tenchi for Tory to apply healing magic upon him.

The dragon collapsed and vanished, leaving the unconscious body of Azusa on the ground. Tory approached him and immediately held out a capsule. The Rune peeled off and became trapped within the capsule. The battle was over. "That's the last one."

* * *

Just after the defeat of Azusa, Tory and the other Cardcaptors approached the vault, bearing all of the Runes. "Sasami's fine," said Aeka over a cell phone. "Tsunami had created a force field around herself. Just before the ship went down, Sasami hid inside so she would be safe. My father is still bedridden, but his recovery is coming smoothly so he should be up in no time."

"That's good," remarked Tory. "Gohan will be released from the hospital tomorrow. Because I got to him so soon, he didn't have to stay there long. How are efforts going on at your end?"

"The queens and I will have our hands full disbanding the bureaucracies my father had put into place to maintain power," replied Aeka. "It will be a tough, but it must be done to restore the faith of our subjects."

As they spoke Tory put the Runes into their slots on the altar. "Good, I'm about to place the Sovereign Rune in the altar. I'll talk more later," he said, terminating the line.

As he placed the last Rune upon the altar, the Rune of Beginnings addressed them. "With the Runes returned to their rightful place, disaster has been averted. However, we Runes no longer have a place in this world. Our people are long gone and those that are here have no relation to us. Therefore, I shall guide the Runes to our people in the afterlife."

The Runes started to vanish from the altar. The Cardcaptors received a vision of the Runes, floating in a location far from Harmonia in the void of outer space. One by one, the Runes exploded, like a dying star giving its last rays of light before burning out. When all of the Runes were destroyed, only the Rune of Beginnings remained. "I am the Alpha and the Omega; the first and the last. Farewell, Cardcaptors, for we will not see each other again." With that, the Rune of Beginnings teleported to the void of space. Like the others, it exploded into nothingness, joining the other Runes in the afterlife.

** END OF CHAPTER**

** SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Sovereign Rune **  
Domain: Authority, Rulership  
Duality: Supremacy vs Tyranny  
Appearance: A golden crown  
Powers: negates Runic powers, compel obedience, user can take on the shape of a golden hydra

Description:  
This powerful Rune represents the power of rulership and governance. While necessary to have leaders in every society, the mantle of leadership can lead a person towards dictatorship and authoritarianism. This Rune is fearsome because it is capable of negating the power of other Runes. Its ultimate power is to transform its bearer into a golden dragon or hydra. In fact, this Rune was once the keepsake of the rulers of the Scarlet Moon Empire in the planet of Harmonia before it collapsed.


End file.
